#you just know he gave her all the hot goss when he dropped by to ask her to make a passport

[innytoes]

I don't know if you still accept prompts but: willex + conman falling in love for real AU?

When Alex made it back to the van, his backpack full of the contents of Covington's safe (bonds, diamonds, some gaudy watches, incriminating paperwork, and something Alex was pretty damn sure was a vial of arsenic), he urged Bobby to drive.

Bobby did without comment, but Alex wasn't as lucky with his other two partners in crime.

"Um, what the fuck," Luke said.

"Oh my god it's so nice to finally meet you!" Reggie beamed.

"Hi," Jay said, a little overwhelmed. He was clutching his skateboard to his chest like it was a security blanket. It was the only thing he'd brought with him.

"I can explain," Alex said, trying to ward off Luke's glares.

Except, could he really? His job had been to infiltrate Covington's operation, and to slowly snoop around without being noticed. It wasn't too hard, Covington didn't have time for the lowly accountants who did the legal side of his business. Or, well, semi-legal. Alex was pretty sure at least half the deals that guy struck bent some kind of rule.

Not that he understood most of what was happening on his screen. Reggie seemed to enjoy himself, though, taking over his computer from the van and doing all the actual work while Alex snooped around and ingratiated himself with the right people. He seemed to have done well for himself, given that after only six months Aaron Miller had earned himself a performance bonus.

It was a shame he'd never be able to cash that paycheck.

He hadn't meant to fall in love with the very pretty intern that also seemed to never be at his desk. The one who actually vouched for him to the security staff when he was on a floor he shouldn't have been on. Sure, Jay had thought he snuck up there to steal some of the fancy lunch the C-suite had catered, but still. They swiped a bunch of fancy salmon and sandwiches and pastries and went up to the roof - another place they were not supposed to be - and talked.

And talked. And talked. And flirted. And talked. Over the months Alex had been with the company, he learned that Jay wasn't just an intern, he was Covington's... well, ward, for lack of better term. Not quite a son. Not quite a servant. But definitely under his control in the worst way, being groomed to take over the company, or at least act as a figurehead while Caleb really ran things from the shadows.

"This is Jay, he's the love of my life," he finally said, and Reggie squee'd happily. Luke just stared at him. "He helped me crack Covington's safe. And he's coming with us."

"That's all well and good," Bobby said. "But we don't have a fake passport for your new beau, or an exit plan for five people."

"Actually, we do have that first one," Reggie said, not looking guilty at all. Of course the hacker had been listening in to Alex' earbud all day while working. "You look like a Willie to me," he told Jay, handing over an excellent forgery.

"I like it," Jay, or now Willie said, looking at the passport. Alex didn't fail to notice that Willie had the same fake last name as the one that was in Alex' go-bag. "And speaking of ways to get out of the country, um, I stole the keys to Caleb's yacht?"

"The yacht has a tracker in it," Luke said, shaking his head.

"Yeah, his regular one does," Willie agreed. "But not his super secret evil villain yacht that he uses to do illegal stuff in international waters."

Even Luke looked impressed at that one.

"I knew rich people did weird stuff like that," Reggie muttered to himself as Bobby made a U-turn to head to the marina instead.

"Well," Luke said thoughtfully. "Welcome aboard, Willie. Or whatever you want to be called from now on, we'll get Flynn to make you a new one the next time we're in London."

His boyfriend smiled. "I think I'll stick with Willie."

[wiypt-writes]

Too Loose And You’ll Lose It

co-written with @icanfeelastormbrewing​

Ch7: Old Habits Die Hard Part 3

Summary: Stella faces the aftermath of her actions in Mexico, and heads home to stay with her mom for a while. But Jake’s hot on her heels, and he’s not giving in without a fight.

Pairing: Jake Jensen x OFC Stella Stevenson

Warnings: Bad language and a whole heap of angst.

A/N: So here is the final part of Chapter 7…and well, we hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. We do not own any characters in this series bar Stella Stevenson and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

TLAYLI Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 7 Part 2

So lay down your weary heart, stay by my side, and I promise I’ll be here, till we run out of time

"Hey, Pumpkin." Evan gave Stella a small smile as she answered the door and Stella found herself grimacing at the pet name.

"Hi." She gave him a little smile back as he leaned in to kiss her. Automatically, she turned her face to the side so he caught her cheek and not her lips. He frowned a little as she stepped back to let him in and glanced at her for a moment, his eyes sliding downwards for a split second and Stella saw something flash on his face, but she couldn't quite place his expression. Without a word, he stepped into the apartment, following her to the living area. When she reached the couch she took a deep breath and opened her mouth to say something but he jumped in.

"Listen Stella, I’m so sorry. I was an ass, I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did and left you to go to the wedding alone."

"So you weren’t working then?" She shook her head as Evan let out a sigh. "I didn’t think so

Evan licked his lips and dropped his head a little. "No, I wasn’t. Like I said, I reacted like an ass. I shouldn’t have lied to you, I'm sorry."

"But you did and," Stella shrugged, "it doesn’t matter anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"It’s over, Evan."

Evan blinked, and then frowned a little. "Is this because of what I said the other night?"

Stella sighed. "In a way, yes, it is." She looked at him for a second as the hurt spread across his face before she took a deep breath and glanced down at her hands. She felt awful. Guilt was flooding her system, not only at the hurt on his face but the fact she'd done what she had. But she knew she had to stand strong. It wasn't fair on him, and it wasn't fair on her. "It caught me unawares and I didn’t know how to react," she looked up as she tried to explain, "I panicked but the truth is I didn’t say it back because I couldn’t Ev. I still can’t."

"Stel, look," Evan swallowed and took a step towards her, "I get it. You’ve been hurt in the past and you’re worried about how fast it’s going and, maybe you can’t say it yet, but you know, that doesn’t mean you don’t or you won’t."

"I thought it could be that way but I can’t lie to myself. Not anymore." She shook her head. "I don’t love you Evan. And I’m not sure I ever will."

Evan blinked, and in an instant the hurt on his face slid into something more akin to anger as his jaw set. He gave a scoff, shaking his head and gestured towards her with his right hand.

"You know, you’re never gonna be able to love anyone else whilst you’re still letting Jensen into your head and your bed." The slap his arm made as it swung back to his side rang loudly across the silent apartment as Stella felt her eyes widen.

"What? That’s not," she desperately tried to protest, even thought it was a blatant lie, "I haven’t-"

"No?" Evan gave a scoff. "The mark on your neck tells me a different story."

Stella felt the heat in her neck, she'd been well and truly caught out, and she felt like shit. She took a deep breath, deciding to come clean, he deserved that at least. "I’m sorry. I was drunk and it was a huge mistake. I shouldn’t have done it but that’s nothing to do with why I’m ending this."  

Evan shook his head. "I should have come with you. Fuck!" He seethed. "I shouldn’t have left you alone with him."

"But you didn’t come, and I cheated on you." Stella remained calm. "I'm not proud of it, I've never done this to anyone before and I feel awful, I really do." She swallowed and sighed. "You’re a great guy, Evan, and you have to believe me when I say, what happened this weekend has nothing to do with why I’m... "

"Why you’re breaking up with me? Really, Stel? You expect me to believe that?"

Stella licked her lips and blinked back her tears. "It’s the truth. I’m sorry."

"For what exactly, Stella? For leading me on? For making me fall in love with you when you’re still clearly hooked on your ex? For cheating on me? And with him nonetheless!" Evan's voice gathered volume as he ranted, all the time his eyes boring into hers, "fuck Stel! After everything I did for you!"

Stella looked down, unable to meet his eyes as a tear fell down her cheek. "I wasn’t leading you on. I really did, I mean do like you I just," she looked up, "I can’t lie to you or to myself anymore. This isn’t right. And I think deep down you know that it ain’t gonna work."

“Of course it ain’t gonna work. Because you’re not putting any effort into it!"

"It shouldn’t have to be an effort, Ev." Stella responded, wetting her lips a little with her tongue. There was a moment of silence, before Evan scoffed.

"Whatever. If you're happy to keep being a way for that asshole to simply get his dick wet then that’s up to you. But I tell you something, he’ll hurt you again. And don’t come crying to me when he does."

Stella took a deep breath, trying to keep her emotions in check. "It’s not like that. At all. He’s not, I mean I’m not..." she trailed off and rubbed at her temple. "This has got nothing to do with him, Evan. I’m breaking it off because I don’t love you and I’m really sorry but I can’t lie to you."

"The only person you’re lying to is yourself, Stella." Evan shook his head. "I’ll see myself out."

He turned to leave, Stella remained rooted to the spot. She looked up at the ceiling, wiped her eyes and then turned to him as he opened the door.

"Evan, I really am sorry." She whispered and he stopped, taking a deep breath before he turned to look at her, his blue eyes wet with tears which made Stella feel about as low as she ever had.

"So am I."

With that the door slammed, leaving her stood alone in her apartment, deadly silence engulfing the room. Her legs gave way and she sank to the floor, her back pressed to the couch, tears pouring down her face.

“Fuck!” She yelled, throwing her head back against the couch. She felt like shit. She never wanted to hurt him, she really did like him and never set out for any of this to happen. She'd wanted to have a future, with someone else, but the sad thing was, Evan had hit the nail on the head. As long as Jake was in her life and her heart, she was never going to be able to be with anyone else.

Because, as much as she wished it wasn't true, she still loved him.

As she sat there, her head awash with a flood of feelings and doubts, her phone rang. Shifting a little, she pulled it from her pocket and saw her sister’s name flashing on the screen. Stella took a deep breath, contemplating simply letting it go to voicemail but she realised she really wanted to hear a friendly voice, and despite the fact they were very different people, she loved her sister and knew that Rey would always have her back. With a shaking hand she swiped to answer the call.

“Hey Stel, how was Mexico? I want all the goss about you and Evs first little break! Well, maybe not all the goss as that’s gross and TMI but-“

At that Stella let out the sob she had been trying to keep down and managed to stutter her sister’s name. Immediately, Rey’s tone flicked from its usual, bubbly nature to concerned.

“Woah, Stelly? What’s wrong? Has something happened?”

“Yeah. I just.... “ at that more tears came and her voice broke once more as she struggled to speak.

“You what, Stel? Are you ok?” Rey demanded. “Why are you crying Stel? Talk to me.”

Stella took a deep breath, fighting for control, eventually managing to find enough to stammer into the phone, “I broke up with Ev.”

“You did what?” Rey’s voice was nothing more than a hissed whisper, conveying her shock. “Why? Stel, are you out of your mind?”

At that Stella began crying even more. “I don’t know, maybe.” She wiped her face with the back of her sweater sleeve, giving a very undignified snort as she did so. “But I don’t love him Rey and...” She choked on her words, struggling for composure as her sister took a deep breath.

“You don’t love him? I don’t-“

“He told me he loved me and I couldn’t say it back. So I went to Mexico in my own and-“

Rey cut her off with a low groan. “Tell me you didn’t!” Stella’s loud sob was all the answer Rey needed. “Oh Stell!”

“I know, I know! But I was drunk and I felt lonely and mad at Ev and, it’s Jakey, Rey!”

“You still love him don’t you?” Rey’s voice was sympathetic, not a shred of frustration left. Stella swallowed, pressing the hell of her hand to her forehead in an attempt to relieve the pain that was starting to form from the force of her crying.

“I never stopped.” She stammered and Rey gave a heavy sigh.

“Shit, Stel.”

“Rey, I don’t know what to do.” Stella whispered, her voice trembling as she struggled for air, her throat felt tight and dry.

“Have you talked to him? To Jake I mean?”

“Sorta.” Stella gave another snort. “The morning after I mean, but I can’t face him. I can’t go there again Rey, I just-“

“And that’s fine, Stel, you don’t have to. Just avoid him until you clear your head. You can call me whenever you need to, I got you on this.” Her big sister placated, voice stern yet gentle. “And you got Clay there too. Talk to him if it’s too much, okay?”

Stella took a shaky breath. “Yeah. Yeah okay.” She wiped her eyes and her nose once more before she cleared her throat. “Listen, Rey, I’m gonna go get a bath. I’m exhausted.”

“Great idea, use some of that bath foam I made, it’s got lavender and rose hip in, perfect relaxation.”

Stella smiled. “Sounds like the perfect accompaniment to a large glass of red.”

Rey chuckled before she sighed. “Promise me you call me if you need me? No matter what time or when.”

“I will. Thanks Rey, oh, and don’t mention this to Mom. Not yet. I’ll tell her myself.”

“I won’t tell a soul.” Rey assured her.

“Thanks. I love you.”

“Love you too, sis.”

Stella cut the call, tossing the phone onto the coffee table before she hugged her knees to her chest, lending herself some comfort before he heaved herself off the floor and headed to the kitchen. She filled a wine glass full to the brim before she slurped a mouthful, wiping her tears once more before she made sure her door was locked, flicked off the lights and headed to the bathroom.

****

It was Thursday, four days after getting home, and Stella was sat outside on her small balcony, wrapped in a warm sweater in the April sun with a book and a coffee when there was a loud knock on her door. She hesitated for a moment, as it had to be someone who had access to the building and her mind immediately went to Jake, before she heard Clay's deep baritone.

"Stella, it's me. Open up."

It was a command, not a question, so she placed her book down on the table, picked up her mug and headed inside. She opened the door and turned away, leaving him to follow her, which he did, shutting the door behind him.

"You want at a coffee?" She asked, heading into the kitchen. "It's not long made."

"Sure." Clay nodded, and he stayed silent whilst Stella made herself a fresh cup, and one for Clay, knowing just how he took it, before she slid it over the counter and for the first time met his eyes.

"You look like shit. Guess this mystery illness really has wiped you out, huh?”

"Thanks, Franklin." She said sarcastically and Clay snorted. "I haven’t been sleeping well."

"Yeah, you definitely caught-" Clay raised his hands and bend his index and middle fingers on both, making quotation signs, "-the bug. It’s annoying, right?" Stella looked at him, blinking as he took a sip of his drink, knowing full well that he had well and truly sussed her out. "And impossible to cure from what I hear. Not even a slap gets rid of it."

Stella let out a soft groan. "Should have imagined you saw that."

"Stell, sweetheart, the entire party saw it." Clay eyed her. "Gotta say, your dad would be proud. It was one hell of a slap."

She scratched at her neck. "In my defense I was drunk and angry."

"Yeah, I know. I caught your apology to Pooch and Jolene the next day. Just before you rushed to the airport ignoring the rest of us."

"I needed to catch my flight." Stella's gaze dropped to the counter, both her hands cupping her mug.

"Before the bug caught you sneaking away from the resort, huh?"

"Something like that." She sighed and took a sip of her coffee.

"So what you gonna do?" Clay asked, placing his mug down. "About your condition, I mean."

Stella shrugged, bowing her head. "That’s the worst bit, Clay. I can’t do anything can I? I couldn’t even be happy with someone else."

"You speaking about Evan in the past tense now?" Clay cocked his head and Stella swallowed.

"I ended it on Sunday."

"Well, I'm not gonna lie and tell you I’m sorry, Stella." Clay shrugged a little and Stella's mouth curled up inot a sad little smile.

"I don’t expect you to."

"You know as well as I do there was something off about that guy." Clay continued and Stella gave a little groan.

"Can we not? There was, is, nothing wrong with Evan. This is down to me and my inability to get some dickhead who dumped me years ago outta my head."

"And out of your bed from what I’ve heard." Clay eyed her shrewdly and Stella stilled, looking at him for a moment before she licked her lips.

"How do you know about that?"

"Practically everyone knew by breakfast." Clay gave her a sympathetic smile. "Turns out one spiteful, red-headed bridesmaid was on your floor too and you weren’t exactly quiet when you were shouting down the hall."

Stella groaned.

"Hell hath no fury, Arty." Clay's eyes twinkled with humour and Stella rolled her eyes.

"It’s complicated, Clay and I can’t face Jake. Not yet. Not like this." She signalled to her congested face and red eyes and Clay took a deep breath, his face sympathetic.

"He’s been worried sick. Says you’re ignoring him."

"Huh, maybe he isn’t as stupid as he looks." Stella shrugged and Clay gave a snort.

"Despite what we all say, he isn’t an idiot. He knows he fucked up. Again."

"It wasn’t just him. We both... well, I wasn’t exactly unwilling." Stell licked her lips as she shrugged. "And as much as I want to say I hated it..." She trailed off, her finger gliding around the rim of her mug. "But it just made everything worse."

"Well, one thing I can tell you is that sitting in here, hiding away isn't going to help." Clay spoke gently, and as Stella opened her mouth to protest he cut her off, holding his hand up. "He's not here. He shipped out with Cougs to support a specialist recruitment exercise at Fort Sill this morning."

"How long is he gone?" Stell asked, her voice quiet.

"He’s back Friday." Clay smiled. "Look, why don’t you take a few days off and go home. You could use some family time right now."

"We just got back from a few days away."

"Yeah, and you've been here, hiding so what difference does it make if you hide in New Hampshire? Besides, you're no use to me like this." Stella took a deep breath as Clay continued. "How long since you saw your mom or Rey?"

"Bout six weeks."

"Then go." Clay persisted. "It's not like you have anything pressing here to do, if we need you then I’ll send for you."

"Thanks, Clay." Stella smiled. "

*****

“What do you mean she’s gone home?” Jensen frowned as Clay looked at him, having just finished explaining to the pair of them where Stella was.

“Well, you know her home in New Hampshire?”

“Yeah?”

“She’s gone there.”

Cougar snorted and Jensen let out a low groan of frustration. He was tired and had just gotten back from a long, hard slog away from home to be greeted by this and he wasn’t in the mood for Clay’s sarcasm.

“When is she coming back?” He demanded, staring at his boss who shrugged.

“I don’t know if she is, Jensen.”

At that Jensen blinked. Was Clay seriously suggesting Stel had quit for good? “What? I don’t-why?”

“Why do you think?” For the first time since Jensen had started speaking, Clay’s frustration was evident in his tone. “After your bunk up in Mexico she finished with Evan and she’s cut up, big time.”

Jensen took a deep breath, as the flood of relief he expected to hear once he’d got that news never came. Instead, he felt nothing but a deep sense of guilt at the fact Stella was upset. And he was part of the cause of that.

“She’s hurting Jake, and I think this time it’s just gotten too much.” Clay finished, his voice a little less spiked than it had been. Jensen ran his hand through his hair, before he shook his head.

“Fuck.”

“Jensen, why don’t you call her?” Cougar looked at him and Jake rolled his eyes.

“You know I tried that, several times. She won’t answer my calls or messages.”

“And you’re gonna let that stop you?” Clay folded his arms across his chest and raised his brow. “What happened to fighting for your girl, Jensen?”

Jensen blinked, his eyes not leaving Clay as his words sunk in. He was right, he had to try and fix this.

“I need to go.” He mumbled before he turned and bolted from the office, a loud apology hitting their ears along with a shout from someone else he had clearly run into in his haste to leave.

There was a pause as both men simply stared at the open door, before Cougar broke the silence. “She’s coming back, right?”

“She didn’t say she wasn’t.” Clay nodded.

“So why did you make out to Jensen like she was done?” Cougar looked at Clay who simply smirked as he turned his head towards him.

“Why do you think?”

****

Less than ten minutes after leaving the office, Jake was in his car speeding down the freeway. With one hand he juggled his phone, pressing the button to call the one person he knew would help him.

“I’m coming home.” He blurted into the handset as soon as his call was answered and Jane gave a little scoff.

“I thought you might be.” Her voice was flat. “Rey called me last night on her way to pick Stel up, told me all about your hook up in Mexico. What the hell were you playing at, Jake!”

“Yeah, I know, I fucked up and I need to make it right. I’m on my way to the airport, I’ll be on the next flight into Logan that I can get and I need you to pick me up.”

There was a pause and Jane sighed. “Leave it with me, I’ll get online and see if I can book one for you.”

“Thanks.” He mumbled before he tossed his phone onto the passenger seat and pushed his foot down on the gas, hanging the exit that would connect him onto the road for DC and the Airport.

Jane called back ten minutes later saying there was a flight an hour or so later which he was on. He arrived twenty or so minutes later and parked in the first space he could find on the long stay car park. As he climbed out, he grabbed his wallet, phone and jacket and debated taking his kit bag but, deciding it would slow him down waiting through security, he left it and set off at a sprint to the departure area.

Thankfully, Military ID gives you certain privileges if you can sweet talk, and Jensen could sweet talk with the best of them, so he managed to skip most of the queues and made it to the gate as the last few people were boarding.

Whilst the flight was only an hour and fifteen, it was an hour and fifteen too long and he was restless for all of it. His leg was continually twitching, his hand running repeatedly through his hair and scratching the short layer of stubble that covered his chin and cheeks. He was aware that he was annoying the elderly woman sitting next to him as he could feel her glaring at him and in an attempt to keep his annoying, nervous little ticks to himself, he tried to read the paper that was in the seat pocket in front of him. But it was pointless, he’d been on the same article for twenty minutes, repeatedly losing his place as his thoughts strayed to Stella, so with a huff he folded it back up and leaned back, closing his eyes.

Whilst sleeping on transport wasn’t normally a problem, being in the Army you learnt to sleep when you could, it totally evaded him and he felt like crying in relief when the pilot announced their descent into Logan. As soon as their wheels were down, he attracted the attention of one of the attendants and begged her to let him off the flight first, citing a military emergency, once more flashing his ID. Five minutes later she returned, smiling at him.

“Follow me, Captain Jensen.”

With a relieved sigh he stood up, grabbing his jacket from the overhead locker and followed her to the door which was just opening into the tunnel.

“Thanks,” he nodded at her as the door was latched into place, “by the way, I love your dress.”

He set off at a sprint through the airport. More abuse of his military privileges saw him clear security in record time and he hurried into the arrivals lounge where he saw Jane waiting for him.

“You have no bag?” She frowned as he gave her a quick hug.

“I didn’t have time.” He shrugged and Jane rolled her eyes.

“From what Rey told me, Stella is gonna be here till next week...”

“Yeah but you booked me a flight I had like an hour to catch...”

“Because you said there was a mad panic!”

“And there is.” Jensen shrugged as they began to walk towards the exit. “Like I said, I need to speak to her.”

“So, what is your plan today?” Rey smirked at him a little as they headed over to the car park.

Jake swallowed. He’d spent the last few hours trying to come up with a plan of sorts and had failed, miserable, so there was only one option. “I’m just gonna tell her I’m sorry and how I feel about her, honestly.” He shrugged as they strode through the rows of parked cars. “She might listen, she might not but I can’t leave it how it was. I gotta try, Jane.”

“Yeah I know Jake.” Jane stopped at her car. “But have you ever thought you can’t always have what you want when you want it and how you want it? It’s always been like that little bro and she’s not a skateboard or a football, she’s a person.”

“I know she’s a person, Jane! But I have to tell her, if she doesn’t wanna listen then-“ he shrugged as Jane unlocked her car, “-at least I’ll know.”

“Well, good luck, you’re gonna need because, according to Rey she is really bad.” Jane climbed into the driver’s seat and Jensen dropped heavily into the passenger one. “Oh, and you might wanna avoid Rey.”

Jake scoffed as Jane reversed the car out of the space. “Rey doesn’t scare me.”

“No?” Jane threw him a look as she drove towards the barrier.

“Nope.” He sniffed, pausing. “She terrifies me.”

Between not wanting to disturb his parents and also being unable to face the inevitable lecture about his behaviour from his dad, at least not until he’d spoken to Stella, Jane suggested he stayed with them. So, Forty-five minutes later, they arrived at Jane’s home, Gracie barrelling out of the house to greet her uncle. He swung her up, giving her a huge cuddle as she began to chat to him about her school and soccer. Jensen tried to listen and pay attention, but his mind was whirring about how he was going to get Stella to meet him. As he walked into the kitchen, Rob handed him a beer and clapped his shoulder as he sank into a chair round the table, letting out a sigh.

After he’d had something to eat and a shower, borrowing some of Robert’s clothes he tried again to reach Stel but to no avail, her phone remained switched off. And this was how it went for the next twenty four hours or so. He also tried the landline but it was always Jules who picked up and he couldn’t face speaking to her either so each time he simply hung up like some huge big cowardly chicken.

So, as a last resort, he begged Jane to help him, something Rob urged her to do too, although his reasons were slightly more selfish- he was simply annoyed that Jake was wearing his clothes and drinking his beer and being a general pain in the ass.

“Okay, okay, just,” Jane bit her lip, “let me talk to Rey, see if I can figure something out.”

She grabbed her phone and left the room, Jensen’s focus remained on the door as he could hear her softly speaking outside, but not enough to make out her words. When she came back a few minutes later she took a deep breath and looked at him.

“Rey’s taken Stella shopping to pick up Julie’s birthday gift. On the way back she’s gonna detour and head to the little cafe in their village, just off the main road through. You need to be there at five.”

Jensen gave a sigh of relief as he stood up and hugged his sister. “I owe you big time.”

“Yeah, well, just don’t be surprised if Rey punches you in the face.” Jane looked at him and Jensen took a deep breath, giving a little shrug as he walked towards the door.

“Be worth it if I can get Stella to listen to me.”

****

“Don’t fuck this up, it’s Stel ok?”

“I know. I know. Look, I’ll call you later, once…” he paused to take a deep breath, “well, once I’ve talked to her.”

Jane smiled at her brother sympathetically and reached over to kiss his cheek, giving him a hug. “Good luck, bro.”

“Thanks,” Jensen voice came out almost as a whisper, “I’m gonna need it, sis.” Taking another deep breath, he got out of the car, gathering what little courage still remained in some forsaken part of his nervous system. “Go Petunias!”

He instinctively pulled the collar of his waterproof North Face jacket round his neck against the rain and started walking with determination to the brightly lit coffee shop at the other side of the street. He jogged to avoid a passing car and soon he was crossing the threshold and being engulfed by the warm atmosphere of the place. He didn’t have to scan the room much before he spotted both Stevenson siblings sat at one of the far corner tables and he made a mental note to thank Rey for having made Stella sit with her back to the door.

Jensen breathed in and walked a couple of steps more into the shop to catch Rey’s attention and a wave of excitement washed his body when he saw her get up and say something to Stella before heading as if she was going to the counter but after turning to check her sister wasn’t looking at her she walked to him and grabbed his arm as she passed.

“You’re lucky I’m not shoving your head up your fucking ass.” Rey hissed only for him to hear.

“Nice to see you too Rey.” He smiled at the woman nervously.

“Fuck you, Jake.” Rey spoke again through gritted teeth.

“You flirting with me, Rey? ‘Coz-”

But Jensen didn’t finish whatever stupid quip his mind had come up with as Rey scoffed and left. He watched her go, and when he saw her picking her coat from the rack next to the main door he sighed.

Good start, Jensen.

In an attempt to placate his nerves, Jensen ran his hand through his damp hair and headed to Stella’s table, his nostrils registering the smell of freshly brewed coffee and sugary treats for the first time since he had stepped foot on the place.

Stella, who was checking the messages on her phone, looked up as she sensed the presence of what she thought was her sister but, much to her surprise, it was Jake Jensen she was looking straight at as he sat down on the chair in front of her.

“Hey Stel.”

“Jake.” She whispered, gasping a little with shock. “What are you doing here?”

“Clay told me you’d come home and I had to talk to you.”

Stella rolled her eyes and was about to protest when the waitress came over with the drinks Rey and her had ordered and, after placing the hot cocoa mug in front of Stella, she looked at Jake confused.

“Oh it’s okay that’s mine thanks.” Jensen said as he nodded. The waitress simply shrugged and placed the coffee mug down before leaving

“Don’t suppose there’s any point me asking how you knew I’d be here.” Stella asked, her arms crossed over her chest as she watched Jake spooning sugar into his drink. Jensen just shrugged as he kept on stirring his coffee, thinking it was a good thing she hadn’t run away the moment she had seen him. “Imma kill Rey.” She grumbled.

“You wouldn’t answer your phone.” Jensen offered, trying to keep it as simple and cool as possible.

“Maybe you should take a hint.” Stella sighed, knowing too well Jake Jensen had never been one for taking hints.

“Stel, why you being like this?” Jake frowned. “We didn’t leave it on a bad note after Mexico, I know you said it was a mistake but…”

Stella sighed again and looked down at her drink, not taking her eyes away from the random pattern of cinnamon sprinkles over the whipped cream. “I just need some headspace.” Her tone was a little softer than before, the surprise and anger at her sister setting her up slowly sweeping away. “That’s all, and you being here…”

She didn’t finish her sentence, instead she gripped her mug and took a drink and once she did she looked up to him for the very first time since she had started speaking only to realize Jensen was watching her, but his eyes weren’t looking straight at hers, they were fixed on something else.

“What?” She asked, varying between curious and concerned.

“Your ring.”

Well she hadn’t been expecting that. She cleared her throat and hesitated a little before asking. “What about it?”

“You had it in Mexico. Why are you suddenly wearing it again? You took it off months ago, when you started seeing Evan.” Jensen inquired, his eyes now effectively meeting Stella’s and he saw the surprise in her expression. “Yeah, I noticed Stel.”

“I actually stopped wearing it the day you dumped me for the second time.” She shot back and Jensen flinched at her tone. Her softness had disappeared and she was being snappy again. He only hoped she didn’t clam up before he could get his point made.

“I didn’t dump you, we were…” He sighed. That path wouldn’t lead him anywhere with Stel, so he decided to take a detour, see where it led. “You haven’t answered my question.”

Stella gave a little shake of her head. “Don’t read anything into it. I’m wearing it because I want to.”

“But, why?” He pressed again.

“I saw it in my jewellery box the day I was going to Mexico when I was looking for some earrings.” She shrugged as she explained herself. “It’s a nice ring.”

Jensen didn’t say anything. Satisfied as he was with Stella’s reasoning, he gave her a knowing smirk.

“Don’t smirk at me like that Jake.” She warned him as she narrowed her eyes.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry.” Jensen placated her before taking another sip of his coffee. “Clay told me you had ended it with Evan.”

“Yeah I bet you’re loving it.” Stella scoffed.

Jake frowned at her accusation. “No.” He shook his head. “I could never be glad you’re hurting.”

“And whose fault is that?” She glared at him.

“Are you saying it’s mine?” Jake blurted out, leaning his forearms on the table. “Look, the morning after we... you know, you told me you were splitting up with Evan and it was nothing to do with us sleeping together.”

“You’re right, I was!” Stella raised her voice, attracting the attention of the two women at the table next to theirs. “But that wasn’t an excuse for me to go and simply jump back into bed with you!” She hissed. “God, I’m so weak. Why did I give in to you?”

“I didn’t force you into bed, Stella!” Jake protested, visibly hurt.

“I never said that.” She shook her head, but avoided his stare.

“Well it kinda sounded like that’s what you were saying.” Jensen shook his head and leaned back on his chair. “You know, you can deny it all you want but that night was good, and I know you felt it too otherwise you wouldn’t be here so upset and accusing me of being the reason you’re hurt.”

Stella stayed silent. The confidence in Jake’s voice left no room for her denying it, there was no point, so she just looked away.

“Why have you got such a problem admitting there’s still something there between us?” Jake broke her silence.

“I’m not admitting shit, Jake. You can go now, back the way you came.” She shrugged, hoping her voice sounded as confident as Jensen’s.

“I’m not going anywhere.” He shook his head before taking another sip from his drink.

“I think you should.”

“Okay,” Jake placed his coffee mug down again, “you look me in the eye and say you feel nothing for me at all and I’ll go.”

“Piss off, Jake!”

“Not until you tell me.” Jensen challenged her as he crossed his arms over his chest. Maybe he was pushing too much, but he had to try.

“Don’t tell me what to do Jacob. You don’t wanna go? Fine!”  Stella shrugged as she got up and grabbed her purse which was hanging from her chair headrest. When Jensen finally registered what was happening he called after her but Stella just ignored him and left the coffee shop after taking her coat from the rack. Sighing with exasperation, Jake stood up and tossed some money down on the table before jogging after her.

The drizzle that was falling when he had first arrived had now turning into a real downpour. The cold air and heavy rain hit Jensen’s face when he stepped out and he needed a few seconds to spot Stella who was walking up the street under the rain, her wool coat failing to stop her from getting increasingly soaked. Jensen started jogging towards her as the same time he cursed himself for not having an umbrella with him.

“Stel.” He panted as he grabbed her arm.

“Don’t touch me!” She snapped, freeing herself from Jake’s grip.

He sighed but looked at her with determination. “You just can’t say it, can you?” But Stella wasn’t giving in and kept silent, staring back at him and after a few too many seconds Jensen had no option but to give up so he looked down and then back up, tears already brimming in his eyes. “My mistake. I’ll, erm, I’ll leave you alone.”

Stella watched, as he turned to go, his shoulders slumping before something inside her cracked, driven completely by the fact he looked and sounded so damned broken.

“Wait!” Stella pleaded, and he stopped, turning to face her as she took a deep breath, looking upwards before she shook her head. “I…damned, fine, I love you, okay. Is that what you wanna hear?” She snigged and shook her head. “I love you Jake but that doesn’t mean shit. I’m tired of hurting.”

“Me too Stel!” Jensen blurted out, his voice cracking. “Jesus, I hurt every dammed day when I saw you with that prick, because I only had myself to blame. I’m a fucking idiot and I get now, my reasons, you know I thought I was doing the right thing, that it would save us both so much heartache but all it did was cause us so much more.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Stella frowned at his sudden ramble. “You were doing the right thing? What kind of shit excuse is that? The right thing for what?”

“For you! I saw it in your eyes, the day we found out our postings and we were gonna be split up because we weren’t married!” Jensen tried to explain himself as the tears began to fall from Stella’s eyes. “The hurt and fear in those beautiful eyes, Stel and all I could think about was how worse it would be if something happened and,” he sighed as his eyes silently pleaded with her to show some sign his words were getting to her and when he spoke again, his voice was softer than ever. “I thought by ending it, then it would mean we could both move on and if something happened then you wouldn’t have to go through the amount of pain your mom did when she lost your dad.”

“Don’t you think I had the right to make that decision myself?” Stella practically shrieked at him, her chest heaving. “God, you’re a fucking asshole Jacob Jensen.” She sniffed and made a pause to rub her nose and wipe the tears and raindrops that were falling down her cheeks. “What the fuck? I’ve spent the last fucking five years of my life wondering what the fuck happened, trying to find a reason why you suddenly didn’t love me!”

“Stel, I never stopped loving you!” Jensen yelled back, before he took a deep breath and shook his head. “How could I? I’ve been in love with you since we were eleven.” He moved closer to her, trying to hold her hands in his.

“You have a strange way of showing it!” She screamed back, moving her hands to dodge him.

“I know, I know. I don’t have anything else to say other than I’m so sorry. And I love you.” He choked out. “I always will.”

Stella sighed, tears still running down her face. She was exhausted and tired of listening to him apologize over and over again. “All right, you’re sorry. So what? Apology accepted. Feeling better? You can go back to Virginia now.”

“If that’s what you want.” Jake said so softly Stella almost missed it as he put his hands in his coat pockets.

“Why suddenly it is what I want that matters, Jake?” She railed at him once more. “It’s always been about you and your stupid ideas and your stupid needs!”

“What do you want me to say, Stel?” He pleaded, his voice was beginning to break again. And, as Stella looked at him, his face suddenly illuminated by the headlights of a passing car, she realised that she had never seen him so vulnerable before.

“I don’t want you to say anything, Jake.” She swallowed hard, shaking her head. “I just want you to make up your mind once and for all and stop fucking with my brain.”

“Make up my mind?” Jake scoffed. “Have you listened to a word I just said?” He stepped forward a little. “You know what I want.”

Stella shuddered under his stare at those last words before muttering. “No, I don’t.”

“You! I want you.” He blurted out, his eyes never leaving hers. “Give me another chance baby. I swear, I’ll make you happy, I’ll do anything.”

“Jake…” Stella’s voice was a strangled whisper as she shook her head and Jensen sighed.

“What is it that is making you hold back?” He pressed, rain dripping off his hair down his face.

At that, she swallowed. “I’m scared.”

“Scared of what? Talk to me, Stelly.”

“Of being broken again, Jake. Because I don’t think I can fix myself again.” Stella blinked as the raindrops gathered on her eyelashes.

“You won’t have to.” Jake was fast to assure her. “I promise you that much. Just let me show you I can be the man you need, the man you deserve.”

“You promised me before you’d always be there Jake.” Stella started sobbing again. “And you left me.”

“I know, I know baby and I blame myself every day for that I... I just need you to trust me. I love you, I love you so fucking much, Stelly I can’t even think of you not being around.” His voice cracked completely on the last word and he sniffed loudly, his shoulders shuddering as he took a deep breath.

And, suddenly Stella’s defences, those defences she had fought so much to keep up, were nothing more than paper, paper that was disintegrating after being soaked by the rapidly falling drops of both her tears and the rain. Before she could draw in the air her body needed, she fell forward into Jake’s arms, melting into his form as she sobbed, her face pressing into the cold, wet outer layers of his clothing.

Jensen’s hands folded around her back, drawing her in closer and she could feel her body shake. “Stelly, shh, don’t cry baby,” he managed a whispered choke as she clung to him for dear life, “everything is gonna be all right. You’ll see.”

And as she continued to cry, Jensen simply held her, rocking her gently from side to side as he pressed a kiss to her wet hair before he pulled back, his hands cupping her face as he swiped under her eyes with his thumbs, the tenderness of the action more than Stella’s heart could hold.

“Please Stelly. Just give me this, ‘coz I don’t know what I’m gonna do if you don’t.”

As a response to his plea, Stella leaned into his hand, kissing his palm. “I never wanted you to leave in the first place.” She whispered and turned her eyes to his, to see a soft smile spreading across his face.

Jake swallowed, trying to find his voice. He wanted to speak, he wanted to speak real bad, because, God, there were so many things he wanted to tell her, so many built up wants and needs from over the years they were apart. But he couldn’t form anything more than her name. “Stel,” and, before he could attempt anything else, she reached up and grabbed his face tenderly before kissing him, softly.

The rain ran down their faces to where their lips met, each of them tasting the cold drops, but instead of detracting from the intensity of the moment, it simply took them to new heights. As Stella pushed her lips in more firmly, the wave that ran through her was intoxicating, a connection that showed the strength of the feeling, the mutual need. She paid no attention to the water which was soaking them through to chill their skin, because the sheer burst of love they were sharing was more than enough to keep her warm.

Nature might have brought the rain but Jake’s inner sunshine always came through for her in the end.

As Jake kissed the droplets from her mouth, she felt his lips smile against hers, making her head swim as she pulled back to take in his beautiful face and he was beaming at her.

“This is it, Jake. You fuck this up and I’m out of your life for good. In every way.” She declared with a sniff, but the warning felt less of a warning to Jake as she was smiling at him as she clung to his neck.

“Not gonna happen.” He smiled back. “We’re gonna do great and we’re gonna get married and make gorgeous babies.”

“You’re a fucking moron.” She snorted.

“Yeah.” He shrugged casually before tightening his grip on her and leaning in for another kiss, but it was cut short this time by Jake’s stomach growling, making Stella pull back and arch her brow at him.

“I haven’t eaten all day.” He offered as explanation.

She chuckled and then gave him a big grin. “Wanna stop at the Schwarma stand on the corner of Ruby Ave?”

“Yes.” He groaned more than agreed. Stella smiled as Jake placed his arm round her, pulling her close to kiss her head as they set off. The gesture once so familiar to them that it filled them with the warmth that the merciless rain was denying them. “Hey, does this count as a date?” He quipped.

“Don’t push it, Jake.” Stella groaned as she jabbed at his ribs.

****

“What the hell have you two been up to?” Julie’s loud voice rang out and the pair of them stopped dead as they walked into the kitchen from the Mud Room, looking at her as she stood, her arms folded, leaning against the counter, wearing her best stern mom expression. “The pair of you are soaked!”

“Yeah, it’s raining.” Jensen nodded and Julie narrowed her eyes.

“Don’t get clever with me, Jacob. You’re not too big that I won’t give you a slap.”

He flashed her his best, cheeky smile and she rolled her eyes, her attention flicking to Stella before she frowned a little, her gaze then moving to their hands which were tangled together. She blinked, and then her face softened and she gave Stella a fond smile.

“You guys good?”

They looked at each other and Stella smiled, turning back to her mom. “Yeah. Yeah we are. But, erm, we should probably go get into some dry clothes.”

“There’s some sweats and a T-shirt in your room Stel, I think they’re Jake’s.” Julie smiled. “Drop your soaked things outside the bathroom and I’ll run them through the wash and drier.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Stella grinned as Jake let out a little noise of approval.

“Jules, you’re awesome.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She rolled her eyes but the smile never left her face. “Go on. I’ll fix you both some dinner.”

“It’s ok, we already ate so I think we’re just gonna...” She trailed off as Jake gently squeezed her hand and Julie nodded.

“Okay, well I guess I’ll see you in the morning?”

Stella dropped her head, shyly as Jake grinned. “Yeah, Jules. Have a good night.”

Thirty or so minutes later they were both warm, dry and settled in bed, Jake in the pair of grey sweatpants that had indeed belonged to him. As Stella snuggled up to him, he pressed a kiss to her head realising that it had been years since they’d done this, just been together, as a couple. He felt her shift a little next to him and he glanced down to see her blinking as she struggled to stay awake. Jake could tell she was exhausted and whilst he wanted nothing more than to get her on her back and love her the best way he could, he knew how tired she was, both physically and mentally. It had been an emotional day, hell, week even, and there was a lot to process. So instead he shifted a little so he was led on his side facing her, and drew her in for another soft, deep kiss, his thumb gently stroking her cheek bone as she sighed happily, his lips slowly and sensually caressing hers.

“Do you remember the first time we shared a bed, Stelly?” Jake grinned as he pulled away, tucking her hair behind her ear.

She snorted. “Summer camp when we were thirteen. I could feel a storm brewing, so I came to your tent.”

“And we got caught so your mom came to ours,” Jake grinned as she gave a chuckle, “sat with mine around the kitchen table, giving us both ‘the talk’. Good times.”

“I remember how it grossed the pair of us out.” Stella giggled. “You pointed out that Rey and Jane would share a bed when they stayed over with each other and your dad was protesting that it was different because they were just friends.”

“So were we at that point.” Jensen mused as Stella’s hand traced his bicep.

“Yeah that’s what you said. And then you pointed out that they might have been lesbians so his argument was invalid.”

Jensen snorted. “He was being platonaphobic, and of course when I told him so, he had no idea what it meant.”

“No one did because it was a word you just made up!” Stella laughed and Jake shrugged.

“It means you’re biased against platonic relationships.” He grinned before he took a deep breath. “Truth is, Stelly, there was nothing platonic on my side even then. I wanted you from the day I saw you.”

“You were eleven, Jake!” Stella shook her head.

“Just be glad it wasn’t until I was fourteen that I started getting boners over you.”

“You’re disgusting.” She rolled her eyes and Jensen pouted.

“Hey, don’t complain. You were in all my fantasies”

“That’s a back handed compliment.” She shook her head and Jensen flashed her a cheeky wink.

“It’s the palm of my hand that remembers.”

At that she slapped his arm and he laughed, pulling her closer to him as she nestled into his warmth, the top of her head tucked under his chin.

And that was exactly how she fell asleep a few minutes later. Jake felt her relax against him completely, and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head before he too drifted under, happy and satisfied that he was holding his girl in his arms, right where she belonged.

**** Chapter 8

[mikauzoran]

Adrienette: Serendipity: Fifty Marichat and Adrienette Kisses: Kiss Eight

Serendipity: Fifty Marichat and Adrienette Kisses: …in secrecy.

(I forgot to post this on Tumblr too when I uploaded it to AO3 on Thursday. ^.^; Sorry!)

“Oeuf,” Adrien grunted as Marinette pushed him roughly up against the wall of the school utility closet, nearly knocking an industrial-size roll of paper towels down on them.

Marinette pulled back just enough to whispered, “You’re sure no one comes in here?” against his lips.

“Positive,” he assured breathily, even though it seemed a little late for her to be asking fifteen minutes in. “It makes a good hiding spot for akuma attacks.” No one had walked in on him transforming yet, and he’d been using the closet periodically over the past three years.

“Okay.” She gulped and started to take her shirt off.

“Whoa!” Adrien’s hands flew out to stop her.

This was not how he first wanted to see his girlfriend in negligée.

Marinette blinked in confusion before her expression quickly evaporated into hurt.

Adrien rushed to explain himself. “Sorry. It’s just…there’s only fifteen minutes left before lunch ends, and I don’t think we have time for…whatever it is you had in mind.”

Marinette’s bottom lip jutted out in a pout. “I want…”

She looked away, shaking her head as she took a step back. “Never mind.”

He advanced a pace, catching her hand. “No. Tell me. Please?” He tipped up her chin with a finger.

She gave him a shy look. “I want…you to kiss me.” She bit her lip and brought his hand up to touch her neck. “Here.” Slowly, she guided his hand down along the curve of her collarbone, down between her breasts, down past her bellybutton, stopping at the top of her jeans.

Adrien gulped. “O-Oh. I…”

She searched his face, anxiously awaiting his response.

“Marinette…” he answered carefully, “I don’t think I’m ready for something like that at this point in our relationship.”

“Right.” She pulled away, avoiding his gaze. “Sorry for jumping the gun.”

Mentally, Adrien cursed at himself for accidentally hurting her.

“Marinette,” he tried again, taking her by the shoulders so she’d have to look at him and see how earnest he was. “Ohime-sama…you are so hot, and I would be delighted to see you topless someday, but not in a utilities closet, okay?”

Finally, she looked at him and smiled tentatively. “Really? You really think so?”

“Yes,” Adrien laughed at the fact that she could ever doubt it. “Yes to all of the above.”

She started to laugh softly too, leaning in for a quick smooch. “Okay. That’s okay, then.”

“Good,” he hummed contentedly, gazing at her lovingly as his thumb stroked her cheek. “So…I’m free this Saturday. Would you want to meet up for lunch and maybe check out that exhibition at the Grand Palais on eighteenth and nineteenth century French and English dresses? And maybe then go for a walk in the Jardin des Tuileries?”

As he spoke, with each phrase, Marinette’s face descended a little bit more into a frown.

“Adrien,” she sighed, stepping back as far as the small closet would allow her.

There was only about a meter between them, but Adrien felt every centimeter of it. His face fell as he realized he was never going to get a real date with her.

“I have a boyfriend,” she reminded needlessly.

He felt ready to scream. He wanted to shake her and shout, “I am your boyfriend! Now, let’s go on a date for the love of God!”

Instead, he crossed his arms and looked away, muttering sullenly, “Yeah, a boyfriend you can’t go out in public with.”

“What was that?” She frowned suspiciously.

He shook his head. “Nothing. Sorry.”

“No. What did you say?” she insisted, hands going to her hips.

“Just…” He swallowed. “That… What use is a boyfriend you can’t go out in public with?”

Her face lost all color. “How do you know that I can’t go out in public with my boyfriend?”

Internally, Adrien cursed up and down the Greek pantheon. “Uh…I…”

“How did you find out? Did he tell you?!” she demanded, cheeks rapidly going from red to white in a fluctuation of fury and fear.

Adrien groaned, giving up any hope he’d had of getting out of this. “No. He didn’t tell me. I…I figured it out…sort of.”

Her eyes narrowed, looking dangerous and dark and almost navy blue in the dim closet. “You figured it out? How?”

Adrien shrugged. “Look. He told you before that he knew me, right? That we’re friends?”

Her pupils shrank to pinpricks as her skin blanched again. “Oh my gosh. Do you know his identity?!” she squeaked.

“No!” Adrien lied. “He…He visits me like he visits you. He showed up at my window one night to check on me. After my father was akumatized,” Adrien invented. “He just kept coming back after that, and we became friends. We’re really similar. Similar background. Similar mommy and daddy issues. We play video games and talk. He helps me sneak out sometimes.” Adrien shrugged again, avoiding her eyes as he lied his way through calming her down. “He got a girlfriend around the same time you told me you’d gotten a boyfriend, and…I don’t know. Things just lined up, so I asked if he was dating you, and he said yes, so…don’t be angry. No one else knows.”

Gradually, she began to nod, her panic receding…until it spiked once more, causing her to gasp in terror. “He doesn’t know about us, does he?!”

“God, no!” Adrien scoffed. “I am taking this secret to my grave.”

Marinette slumped back up against the opposite wall of the closet. “Okay. Okay. Good.”

Adrien groaned, carding a hand roughly through his hair. “…Don’t you get sick of it?”

“Hm?” Her head tipped to the side.

“Having a boyfriend you can’t actually go on a real date with,” he clarified miserably. “Isn’t that frustrating?”

Marinette thought about it for a minute before shrugging one shoulder indifferently. “I mean…I’d like to go on dates like normal couples. That would be nice, but…no. I don’t really mind it that we can’t right now.”

He gawked at her incredulously. “You don’t mind that you can’t actually date your boyfriend?”

She rolled her eyes and waved him away. “It’s not like that. We are dating. I see him most nights of the week. We spend plenty of time together. True, we can’t really leave the house, but there’s plenty to do at home.”

A soft, content look washed across her face as she explained, “I used to daydream about romantic dates when I was younger, but now that I’m actually in a relationship, I realize that all of that isn’t really important. Just spending time with him is enough. We don’t have to do anything special. I’m happy so long as I’m with him.”

The bottom dropped out of Adrien’s stomach right in the middle of it trying to twist itself into knots.

“Oh,” he replied eruditely. “That’s…good.”

Good for her, maybe, but it didn’t help him. In fact, it made him suspect that there might be something wrong because Adrien was definitely not happy with the way things were. Chat Noir had been dating Marinette for several months now, and Adrien was just dying to go somewhere with her. Even getting coffee would be good, but he needed something. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy the time they spent at her house. He really, really did, but…he felt like something was missing.

“…Are you sure we can’t hang out on Saturday?” he pleaded in a small, pathetic voice.

“Adrien,” she groaned.

“Just as friends,” he quickly amended.

“That isn’t a good idea.” She tried to let him down gently.

“Marinette, friends can get lunch and go to exhibitions together,” he argued, beyond desperate. “We’ve hardly spent any time hanging out the past month. Come on. Please? We’re still friends, aren’t we?”

“Adrien,” she sighed, sounding exhausted.

“Aren’t we?” he challenged. “Come on, Marinette. I shouldn’t have to beg you to hang out with me, especially when I know you really do want to check out that dress exhibit. What?” he snapped. “I’m good enough to snog in a janitor’s closet, but you don’t necessarily want to spend time with me otherwise?”

“Adrien,” she chastised, glaring.

He refused to back down. “Don’t ‘Adrien’ me. What am I supposed to think when you’d rather I take your shirt off than take you out to lunch?”

She opened her mouth, but he cut her off.

“—You don’t get it,” he accused. “My whole life people have only wanted me for my looks, my money, or my influence, Marinette. It’s only gotten worse the older I’ve gotten.” He looked away, the fight in his voice replaced by hurt and shame. “The past year and a half, it feels like the media’s been counting down until I’m ‘legal’…. It feels like everyone’s only interested in me for my body…so I’m sorry if I’m a little touchy about you only wanting to be alone with me lately if we’re making out.”

She didn’t reply right away, and he tried to tell himself he was being silly and paranoid, that the reason she was cutting Adrien out of her life was that she didn’t want to be tempted to cheat on Chat Noir.

Adrien was really good at being paranoid.

But then she took his hand, threading her fingers through his as she brought the back of his palm up to her lips.

“I’m so sorry, Beau Gosse,” she whispered against his skin, looking up at him with glistening, wet eyes. “I’m not being fair to you. I’m being a really crumby friend, aren’t I?”

He shook his head, even though she was right.

“We need to stop this,” she said for what was probably the ninety-second time. “What we’re doing isn’t healthy. It’s tearing us apart. We need to stop.”

He didn’t disagree. If she would just let him tell her his identity, there wouldn’t be a problem, but…

“The reason we can’t be alone together is because every time we are, we end up making out,” she tried to straighten out the misunderstanding. “I would love to spend time with you just as friends, Adrien, but we don’t seem to be able to do that at this point.”

“What if we get someone else to come with us on Saturday?” he suggested, willing to compromise so long as it meant he got to spend time with her outside the confines of the Dupain-Cheng abode. “You know. A chaperone?”

Marinette bit her lip, leaning back so that their hands were joined only loosely. “…I suppose that could work.”

“Perfect!” Adrien cheered, mood lightening instantly. “I’ll ask Nino next period. You ask Alya.”

Marinette grimaced. “Adrien…that’s like going on a double date.”

“Fine,” Adrien sighed. “How about…Juleka and Rose? Juleka’s into fashion. She’d probably enjoy the exhibit.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “You know Juleka and Rose are a couple.”

Adrien pursed his lips. “Okay. Fine. How about Juleka and Rose and Mylène and Ivan. I doubt we’ll get up to anything with that many other people around.”

“What? So we can have a triple date instead of a double date?” she snorted.

Adrien groaned, pulling his hand away from her so that he could slide down the wall to the floor and cradle his head in both of his hands. “You are killing me. Don’t we have any single friends? I don’t care, Marinette. Let’s just invite the whole class. If that’s what I have to do to get a date with you, I’ll do it. I’ll buy the whole class lunch and tickets to the exhibit. I don’t care,” he moaned miserably.

“Adrien…” Marinette sighed, sinking to the floor across from him, her feet right beside his in the cramped space. “Oh, Adrien.” Her voice was full of pity. “I’m so sorry I’m doing this to you.”

“You’d better be,” he pouted half-heartedly, reiterating, “You’re killing me, Marinette. I am so romantically frustrated right now I am going insane. I have needs,” he whimpered, “and I can’t take it anymore.”

Marinette blinked at him, wide-eyed. “O-Oh. I’m sorry. I thought… You said you weren’t ready to do anything like that at this point in our relationship, so I thought…” She frowned in confusion. “But…you want to have sex?”

Adrien’s mouth dropped open, and his eyes nearly flew out of their sockets. “What?! No! That’s not what I meant! I don’t want—” He abruptly cut himself off, looking at the floor and trying to get his blush under control.

He took a deep breath. “Okay. I mean… Yes, I’ve thought about making love to you before, and, if it’s something you want, I’d be willing to explore that possibility eventually, but…not right now. Not how things are now. I don’t…”

He bit his lip and looked back up, forcing himself to meet her gaze, even though this conversation was mortifying. He knew he had to be honest with her. “Look. I’m not opposed to sex, but it’s not really up there on my list of must-haves either, okay? I definitely am not interested in sex without a relationship to go with it. I don’t want to actually be friends with benefits with you. The thought horrifies me.”

He shut his eyes and shook his head. “The fact that we sneak away to make out in closets horrifies me, if we’re being honest. I never meant for things to turn out like this.”

“So…what do you want,” Marinette prompted gently, trying her very best to follow.

Slowly, he inhaled and then let the breath out. “When I said I had needs, I meant things like going for walks holding hands and buying each other Valentine’s Day presents and celebrating obscure anniversaries like the first time we went ice skating or the first time we ate ice cream together,” he explained, hoping he didn’t sound ridiculous to her. It was apparent already that they required vastly different things out of a relationship. “I want you to come to fashion events and benefit galas as my date. I want to wear the things you make and be able to say, ‘my girlfriend made this’. I want to be able to tell people I’m in a relationship…that I’m in a relationship with you. I want to be able to show you off, Marinette. I want to be your boyfriend officially. I want this to feel legitimate.”

Marinette let her head drop to the tops of her knees as she forced herself to process everything he’d flung at her. It took a minute, but she finally gathered the words she needed to answer.

“Adrien, unless things don’t work out with Chat Noir, that can’t happen,” she replied patiently, trying to be gentle. “I already have a boyfriend.”

He deflated, curling in on himself with a soft groan.

“What we can do, though,” she hurriedly continued, “is spend more time together as friends. We can hang out as friends. I can come with you to events as your friend. You’re right. I have been neglecting our friendship lately, and I’m sorry. We’ll try to fix it. If we work together, we can make this work again. You’re a really precious friend to me, Adrien, and I don’t want to lose that with you.”

He sucked in a deep breath, straightened up, and nodded. “Okay,” he agreed. “All right. That…That’s just going to have to be enough. Thank you, Marinette. I appreciate you putting up with me.” Tired though he was, he summoned up enough energy for a roguish smile.

She tapped her foot against his. “I like ‘putting up’ with you,” she snorted, using air quotes. “It’s one of my favourite things to do.”

His smile softened, and he nodded. “You know, you actually make me believe it.”

“Because it’s true,” she chuckled, pushing herself up to her feet as the five-minute warning bell signaling the end of lunch rang. She held out her hand to help him up, and he took it happily.

“Hey. Ask Chloé to come with us on Saturday,” Marinette instructed. “I’ll ask Alya, and we’ll all go as just friends, okay?”

“You’re the best,” Adrien sighed, leaning in to catch her lips in one last secret kiss before they had to go back to reality.

[mattygraygubler]

our campus: chapter 3 (tom holland fanfic)

summary: frat!tom and reader go to the same college and y/n is tasked with being his tutor, they don’t really get along at first (because i love reader and tom hating each other trope)

warnings: talk of being roofied, drinking

word count: 3.1k

a/n: more dialogue and texts????? someone come take my laptop away ALSO bold is texts or emails, u get it

for a list of characters click here

to be added to the tag list send me an ask !

masterlist

✰✰✰✰✰

“So???” Emily said immediately as you sat down at your usual table for lunch. You dropped your salad and slid into the seat next to Ally. 

“So what?” You asked, even though you knew exactly what she was talking about. 

“Tutor boy! Is he hot for teacher yet?” Emily said with a wink. 

“God, Em, you’re the worst.” You replied. 

“And you are avoiding the question.” Isabelle said as she grabbed your iced tea. “You can have this back after you dish.” 

“Fine. His name is Tom Holland-” you were interrupted by Ally choking on her water, spitting all over her empty plate. 

“Tom Holland?! God, Y/N, I am so sorry.” Ally said. “He’s the fucking worst.” 

“What what what explain now.” Emily said in one breath. 

“Ok so first of all he’s super hot, so no matter what he auditions for, he always gets cast. In fact, he’s currently starring in Romeo and Juliet, which if you remember I’m stage managing. So needless to say, I unfortunately have to work very, very closely with him.” 

“Al, why didn’t you say anything sooner?” Emily said giddily. 

“For Y/N’s sake, I was praying it wasn’t him.”

“What was he like?” Isabelle asked you. 

“Well he came up to me and hit on me before realizing I was his tutor.” You said, and then proceeded to tell the rest of the horrible story of your first encounter with Tom. 

“Ohmigod he’s totally into you,” Emily said in one breath. 

“Yeah, you need to stop tutoring him.” Isabelle said. 

“Iz, are you INSANE?!” Emily replied. 

“What? He’s obviously incredibly disrespectful. She shouldn’t waste her time.” 

“Look, I’m gonna give him the benefit of the doubt. The second he breaks a rule, I’m done.” 

“I love it when you give boys rules, it’s so hot,” Isabelle said and you all laughed. 

The rest of the day passed by relatively quickly, and thankfully the delta nu meeting finished early, meaning you could get some work done before Tom showed up. 

You were sat in the hlab, getting some work done for your political conflict class, when a figure slid in across from you, pulling one of your headphones out of your ear. 

“Jess!” You greeted Jessie with a smile. 

“I have goss.” She replied. Just like Jessie, always straight to the point, and always the center of gossip. 

“About who?” You asked, intrigued. 

“You.”

“Me?” She nodded, a giddy smile on her lips. 

“Word around the quad is that a certain tutee of yours has a little crush.”

“Jessie, what are you talking about.” 

“Tom told Harrison, who told James, who told Max, who told me that he said you were gorgeous and that he didn’t think he could work with someone he was so attracted to.” You rolled your eyes. 

“What a bunch of bullshit. He’s just a horny frat boy.”

“Y/N! You LOVE horny frat boys!”

“Well he’s not my type.” 

“How?! He’s absolutely gorgeous.” 

“You fuck him then!”

“Believe me, I’ve tried.” Jessie said with a laugh. You raised your eyebrows. “Okay, I haven’t really tried, Max has this rule about me fooling around with his frat brothers.” 

Max and Jessie were unseperable ever since freshman seminar, when Max came out as gay at an hc party and Jessie decided he was adorable and needed her protection. Since then, Jessie was a rock for Max, and no one, besides the juniors in hc, knew he was gay. Including his fraternity brothers. 

“Whatever, I’m not interested.” You said. 

“Y/N you truly are impossible sometimes. You’re never gonna get frat bingo until you get delt, and he’s a delt.” You sighed. After being roofied by a delt freshman year, you almost gave up on frat bingo. You would’ve been the first in your friend group to get it if you hadn’t given up on delt. Ally dropped out sophomore year, Isabelle fell behind when she got a boyfriend, and Emily was a bit behind you. 

She would never admit it, but Emily was a prude. To an extent, of course. She played the flirt so well people didn’t realize that she rarely slept with guys, and never guys she didn’t know. 

“Look I need some food. I’ll see you tomorrow?” Jessie asked. You nodded, and immediately began texting your friends. 

♡girly girls♡

You

ok we have an issue

Al

What’s up?

You

well apparently tom told his frat brothers that he has a crush on me and doesnt want me to tutor him because hes “too attracted” to me

Em

holy

fucking

shit

he did not

Iz

i said from the start this was a bad idea. do you like him N/N?

You

i mean not really. hes not my type. 

Al

of course he isnt, hes not emotionally unavaliable and incredibly intelligent but incredibly problematic

You

w o w way to read me to filth al

Al

it had to happen

You

whatever its almost 915 so i better go

love u losers

You put down your phone, pulling out your political conflict textbooks and start reading. Soon, you were engrossed in the greek war of independence, completely forgetting where you were or what time it was. 

Books did that to you too often. In fact, it made you insecure. For so long you didn’t think you were as smart as the other hc kids, you were just a fast reader. Freshman year, when you really got close to the other hc kids, you realized that they were your people. You belonged. 

You glanced at your phone. 9:45. He was a half hour late. 

You debated texting him, but decided against it. You would wait for him to show up, tell him he broke a rule, block his number, email G, and move on. 

It took another ten minutes for him to show up. 

“Evening sweetheart,” he said as he stumbled into the hlab, which was now completely empty except for you. He sat across from you and started unzipping his backpack. 

“No need to unpack, this shouldn’t take long.” You said. He looked at you quizzically. “It’s two minutes before ten. You’re incredibly late, and my time is incredibly valuable. It’s also fairly obvious you’ve been drinking. I don’t have time for slobs who get drunk on a Monday and aren’t respectful to people who are giving up their time to help you.” 

You slung your bag over your shoulder and started to walk out. 

“Y/N, c’mon, you’re being dramatic. I promise I won't do it again.” He said from behind you. You stopped cold and turned slowly to face him, although he was still a good 10 feet away from you. 

“Did you just call me… dramatic?” 

“I’m sorry, darling, but you were-”

“Stop. Do not call me darling, and never, ever call a girl dramatic. I made myself crystal clear, both yesterday and today, you do not deserve my time, Tom Holland.”

“Y/N-” 

“I truly wish you all the best and I hope you’re able to graduate, despite having less brain cells than a cantaloupe.” You felt your words sting him, but you didn’t care. He was disrespectful, he deserved it, you told yourself. 

“Y/N.” He said, his voice cracking. He took a deep breath. “Please don’t leave. I’m sorry.” This was not what you were expecting from him. 

He sighed, sitting on his chair. You cautiously leaned against the table behind you, looking at a boy close to tears. 

“What are you sorry for?” 

“I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable. I’m sorry for being late to our meeting, and I’m sorry for showing up drunk.” 

“Tell me why.” 

“I’m sorry?” He asked. 

“Tell me why you’re late and why you’re drunk and I’ll consider helping you.” He looked at the ground again. 

“Any chance I can get a shot first?” He jokingly said. 

“You are already pushing your luck, Holland, do you really want to make it worse?” 

“Fine, I’m sorry. I was late and drunk because I was embarrassed.” You raised your eyebrows. “To be honest, I knew who I was looking for yesterday. I hit on you to break the tension.” 

“Why were you embarrassed? And, wait, you knew who I was?” 

“I looked up your instagram before we met so I’d know who to look for, and I hit on you because I didn’t want you to help me.” 

“And why were you embarrassed?” He started playing with the cuff of his sleeve, still not looking at you. “Tom.” You said, getting him to finally look at you. 

“I was embarrassed because I’m flunking out of school and need a tutor, and my tutor asked me to meet in the most intense place on campus.”

“The hlab? Intense?”

“Y/N, you need to be, like, a genius to even be considered for this program. And here I am, a theater major who can’t even pass a class about the stars.” 

“Astronomy is about a lot more than stars, if you bothered to open your textbook, you’d know that.” He stared at you, and you noticed tears coming to his eyes. 

“I can’t be tutored. I can’t. I’ll figure something else out.” He hastily grabbed his backpack and prepared to walk out the door, but you grabbed his backpack, turning him around. 

“Stop. Open your backpack.” He looked at you, confused, but obliged, holding the backpack open in front of you. You looked through it, noticing five notebooks, and a folder. You pulled it out, riffled through, and saw a schedule along with five syllabi. You nodded and looked back at him. 

“The list?” You asked. He pulled a folded piece of paper from his back pocket and handed it to you. It had the list of assignments you asked for. You nodded again. 

“You need to be making a list like this every friday for the upcoming week, got it?” He nodded and then zipped his backpack, turning back to the door. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” You asked, your arms folded. 

“Home?” He asked. 

“Nope. Sit.” 

“You mean…?” “You were disrespectful. I will not forgive you for that, but as your tutor, it’s my job to help you, no matter how stupid you act. And to be clear, I was not calling your intelligence stupid. I was referring to the fact that you already broke a rule, and of course, the unspoken rule of not showing up to sessions drunk.” He slid into the seat across from you and pulled out notebooks and pencils as you analyzed the list. 

“Have you done any readings this week?” He shook his head. “When you’re in class, do you feel like the teacher is speaking another language and all the other students understand it but you?” “Yeah, how-”

“Look, Tom, I’m gonna share with you the biggest college hack there is. All lectures are is the professor talking about the reading and helping you to understand the material. You cannot possibly understand the lecture without doing the readings. Once you start reading, the lectures will make sense, even if you don’t understand the readings the first time you read them. Make sense?”

“Well, you said read a lot…” You raised your eyebrows. “No, no, that makes sense.”

“When you go to class this week, you need to be taking notes by hand. Statistically you’re much more likely to absorb the material that way, especially without the added distraction that is the internet.” He nodded. 

“Last but certainly not least, we cannot start our work until you’ve done the readings. So I will see you Friday evening for a session, we’ll review the material of that week making sure you understand it, you’ll complete your homework on Saturday, and we’ll meet again Sunday night to review the homework before you hand it in. If need be, we can meet for a weekday session.” 

He raised his eyebrows. 

“Don’t question my methods. You are one more C- away from being kicked out of college. You like it here? Don’t wanna go back to the freezing rain in London? You’ll listen to me.” You packed your bag and Tom started to follow suit. 

“Nope.” You said, placing a hand on the notebook he was about to put in his bag. “You’ll stay here and do your readings for the rest of the week. No matter how long it takes.” “But this is-” “Hlab? I’m aware, but I guess you haven’t noticed that literally no one is here. No one is going to be mad that you’re here. Just sit and read.” 

“Y/N?” He called as you walked towards the door. “I’m really sorry.” 

“I don’t like apologies, Tom. Stop apologizing, stop being embarrassed, and do better.” 

You returned to your room, lying on your bed and opening back up your textbook, but not before texting your friends. 

♡girly girls♡

You

just got back

Iz

howd it go???

You 

he showed up 45 minutes late, drunk 

Al

so where are we meeting to bury his dead body?

You

very funny, Al

Al

i wasnt joking. 

Em

wait he was drunk? on a monday? typical 

Iz

so i guess you wont be seeing him again? 

You were conflicted. You shared everything in your friends, but Tom was vulnerable with you and you didn’t want to betray his trust. 

You 

look we talked about it and he explained himself. im giving him one more chance.

Iz

seriously? im shook

You

whatever he made a good case

Em

i think you just wanna sleep with him

You

i dont i promise you thats the last thing i wanna do

Al

ive got 10 bucks they hook up before march 1st. anyone wanna take the over? 

Iz

ill take that action, Y/N is stubborn as hell

You

you guys are the absolute worst. see you for lunch xox

It wasn’t long before you dozed off. Your alarm woke you up the next morning, your textbook still lying across your chest. You already had a few texts from your friends. 

♡girly girls♡

Em

al i just saw that cute girl with the purple hair u like

Al

shut up em i dont like her

Iz

is she the one whose asm for romeo and juliet???

Em 

thats the one! 

Al

guys ! leave it, ok? shes straight

You

with that hair? i doubt it

You checked the rest of your messages, surprised to see a blue bubble next to Tom’s name. 

Tom Holland

hey sorry but i dont think this is gonna work, sorry for waisting your time, ill tell gronsky to find me another tutor

You were shocked, quickly sending a text message to your group chat. 

Em

i thought you said everything was gucci ?

You

i thought it was….

Iz

pls text him back 

You rolled your eyes, realizing Isabelle was right. 

You

Stop being ridiculous. you misspelled “wasting”. dont forget handwritten notes in class today. ill see you friday.

He responded almost immediately. 

Tom Holland

I wasnt dicking around. rlly. this isnt gonna work. i already emailed gronk.

You sent an updated screenshot to your group chat, rolling your eyes, right as an email alert popped up to the top of your screen. 

TO: y/email@school.edu

FROM: gronsky@school.edu

SUBJECT: Thomas tutoring

Hi kiddo,

Not sure if this is a mistake but Thomas just emailed me saying you would no longer be tutoring him? I thought you would be a good match for him… Take the rest of the week, talk to him, if he still doesn’t want you as his tutor let me know by Friday so I can try to find someone new to tutor him. 

I know he can be challenging, but I’m sure you realize that’s exactly why I picked you. ;) (and also because no one else agreed to work with him)

G

You sighed. Of course. Typical G, giving you all the basket cases and expecting you to fix them. It was true, you never backed down from a challenge, but this one may not be for you. 

You looked at your phone and pulled out Tom’s schedule from your backpack. He was finished with statistics in a half hour, just enough time for you to get ready and go to the math and science building. 

You made it there with just a few minutes to spare. You stood outside the room, back against the wall, popping your bubble gum and waiting. The class let out, mostly sophomores giddily running off to lunch, obviously relieved to be done with class. 

Tom was one of the last ones to leave the classroom, and as soon as he saw you he rolled his eyes. 

“Hi Max,” you greeted Max who was walking next to him. 

“Y/N,” he said with a smile. 

“Are you TAing?” You asked, still completely ignoring Tom who was fidgeting in front of you.

“You know it.” 

“Mind if I steal Tom?” 

“No problem, see you at home dude,” he said and they did a stupid handshake. 

“Walk me to lunch.” You said and started to walk towards the door. “That wasn’t a question, Thomas.” You said when you saw that he wasn’t following you. He quickly caught up to you, but not before you overheard a groan. 

“Has anyone ever told you you are incredibly difficult?” He asked. You laughed, which surprised him. 

“That really doesn’t bother me.” 

“You can’t boss me around anymore, you’re not my tutor.” 

“See that’s where you’re wrong. I am your tutor, therefore I can boss you around.” 

“I fired you.” 

“Good thing I don’t work for you, then.” He sighed. 

“Y/N.” He said and stopped in the middle of the walkway. 

“Thomas.” You said in the same tone. 

“Why are you doing this?” 

“A little bird who may or may not be Gronk told me that no one else would tutor you. So I am very sorry Mr. frat boy, but it looks like you’re stuck with me.” You turned and continued walking. 

“Seriously?” He said as he fell into step with you again. “Pity?” 

“Stop being difficult.” You said, smiling as you used his words against him. 

“Whatever. I’ll give you a week before you give up.” You laughed. 

“I don’t quit, Holland. I’m incredibly competitive and you will not win this fight.” He looked unhappy, but held the door to the dining hall for you. 

You approached your usual table, Tom following close behind. You turned to him before taking your usual seat. 

“I know you didn’t finish your readings last night. Go find a place to finish them. Take good notes. I’ll see you Friday at 4, if you’re late, there’s gonna be a problem.” He simply nodded and walked away, greeting some friends he knew in the cafeteria. 

You turned to your friends, all of whom were suspiciously quiet. 

“So…” Isabelle said, finally breaking the tension. “I guess you’re still tutoring him?” 

[spn-ficfanatic]

F*ck Cancer- Ch 1: The Discovery

SERIES MASTERLIST - CHAPTER TWO

Summary: You’ve been hiding a crushing secret from your best friends (Well, one best friend and one sometimes-lover if you want to get technical about it). How will they react when they find out that the woman they grew up and hunted with for most of their lives, may only have a few months left to live?

Genre: Angst

Characters: Sam x Reader, Dean x Platonic!Reader* *For my Dean ladies: it may not be romantic between him and the reader, but it’s a very close brotherly/sisterly relationship and I still think y’all will really enjoy it :)

Words: 3277

Warnings: Cancer/chemo talk, swearing

A/N: I’ve only written one series prior to this. It was also a Sam x Reader, was 8 parts long just like this, and just like this it marked a huge milestone on my blog. The first chapter of “The One Moment” marked the 100th post I’d made... this marks the 300th :)

Your phone rang as you stared lazily out of the window. You knew you were lucky, not many of the other patients had this view; it certainly made the whole process seem a little less intimidating. Your heart nearly skipped a beat when you saw it was Sam who was calling, for good or bad you weren't sure. You and he had been together in the past, it was never anything serious because the life of a hunter would never allow that, but to say you didn’t have some semblance of feelings for him would be a big fat lie. You took a deep breath and accepted the call, holding your hand over the microphone in an attempt to shield the hospital sounds surrounding you.

“Hey Sam, been a while,” you told him, trying to sound casual. Thankfully you had only just started treatment 10 minutes prior so the vomiting hadn’t started yet, and your voice would definitely have betrayed you in that instance.

“Hey yourself Y/N, been good?” he replied; you could hear the smile in his voice which in turn had you grinning. You really had missed him.

“Can’t complain,” you lied. “How are you and bonehead going?”

“Hey, I resent that,” Dean’s voice protested in the background and you and Sam shared a laugh.

“He’s good, we both are.”

“So, what are you boys up to at the moment? Gimme all the goss,” you begged, reclining in your chair.

“Actually we’ve just finished a case and will be driving through Austin pretty soon to the next one, thought maybe we could stop by and say hi.”

You nearly dropped the phone as you bolted upright. Holding onto it tightly you quickly debated on the best way to handle this. No way were he and Dean going to find out about this, especially not in the middle of treatment.

“Y/N? You there?” he asked, concern filling his voice.

“Shit yer, sorry, I sat back and nearly dropped my phone. Um, now’s not really a good time,” you told him, scrambling to come up with a good excuse.

“Is everything ok? Are you in trouble?” he asked, jumping straight into protective mode. You forced out a laugh.

“It’s all good, I’m just not at home. Hitting a salt and burn a few states over unfortunately.”

“I thought you were having a break from hunting?” Dean asked you skeptically. Curse his big brother senses.

“Yer but this came up and, I dunno, I felt like scratching that itch or something,” you scrambled, picking at a loose thread on your jumper sleeve nervously. “Anyway I think I’ll be here another couple of days so we might have to try for next time. Sorry.”

“No no, it’s fine. Sorry to miss you, was looking forward to it,” Sam replied, sounding pretty beat up. God damn it Winchester!

A nurse started to approach and you realised you had to get off the call before they overheard her talking about your IV line.

“Anyway guys I better get going, it was really great talking to you. I’ll call you tomorrow perhaps?” you rushed.

“Oh, uh, yer sure. That’d be great. Talk soo-”

You had to cut him off, the nurse got too close and was about to open her mouth and blow your cover. You berated yourself for it, he probably thought you didn’t want to see them anymore, and you face palmed yourself and groaned in annoyance.

“Oh hun, is the nausea starting already?” the nurse asked you kindly.

“Yer, only it’s not the chemo this time.”

-----------------------------------------

“Did she just hang up on you?” Dean asked incredulously. Sam was looking at his phone, the call disconnected before he’d even managed to get his sentence out.

“Uh, yer, it would appear so.”

“What the hell did you do to her man?”

Sam held his hands up defensively. “I didn’t do anything! At least I don’t think I did. Things were good last time, we email and message while we’re on the road. I don’t understand what’s going on.”

An awkward silence filled the cabin while the boys each contemplated the exchange.

“Did she sound a little flat to you?” Dean asked, starting to grow concerned.

“I dunno, a little I guess. Maybe this hunt’s taken a lot out of her, it’s been a while.”

“Do you… Nah.”

“What?”

“Well, do you think she was on a hunt? Really? Maybe she’s just avoiding us.”

Sam gave Dean a look, before leaning over and grabbing his laptop from the back seat. Dean kept his eyes on the road while Sam brought up the GPS tracker and put your number in.

“Dude, really? We’re stalking her now? She’s gonna kill you if she finds out you did this, you know that right?”

Sam didn’t answer as he watched the program track your phone, his heart dropping when it landed on the one place he never expected it would.

“Dean, how far away are we from Austin?” he asked as he stared at the screen, his voice sounding a little dangerous.

“Uhhh, a couple of hours. Give or take. Why, is she there?”

“Yer she’s, uh, she’s at Cornerstone Hospital.”

--------------------------------------

3 hours later and you were finally done with your chemotherapy treatment for the day. You’d had a bout of nausea a little while ago but generally were starting to come good again. Knowing what happened last time though, you had about 45 minutes to get home before you could barely stand through the pain.

Waiting for the nurse to see you, you drummed your hands on the armrest while you looked around the room. A few people had come and gone in the time you’d been there, some having just a half-hour treatment. You were the youngest there you noticed, and you always got the pity-stare from the older patients when they walked in and saw you. So you kept to yourself… making friends with people at this stage in your life seemed relatively moot.

You were too busy reading a new poster on the wall to hear the heavy footsteps coming down the hall. You may have recognised them if you have been paying attention, you’d heard them on enough hunts in the past. A deep voice broke through your thoughts and turned your blood cold; if you hadn't still been connected to all the wires you might have tried to make a run for it. Instead you took a deep breath and turned to face the brothers. Neither had noticed you yet, their backs to you as they spoke to the nurse at the desk opposite. They were in their FBI gear which surprised you.

“Hello, we're looking for Y/N Y/L/N?” Dean asked in his professional voice.

Sam started looking around the room and before the nurse could point them in your direction, his eyes landed on yours. His jaw dropped as he took your frail form in, and before Dean could even turn around he was headed to you.

“Y/N, what the hell?” he cried, trying not to be too loud but he was obviously upset. Dean too came toward you, you don’t think you’d ever seen him look so worried before.

“Is everything ok here?” the nurse asked as she approached your chair, eyeing the men cautiously.

“Yer it’s all fine Tess, thanks for checking. Could we have a sec before you unhook me?” you asked her quietly. “I need to talk with my friends.”

She nodded with a warm smile and patted your knee gently before walking off to help another patient. You watched her leave, and sighed as you turned back to face the guys. Both were staring at you with mouths agape, and you rolled your eyes and gave a little huff of amusement.

“You guys wanna close your mouths? There’s a few flies buzzing around in here.”

“Don't joke Y/N, this isn't funny,” Dean scolded.

You hung your head. “You're right, I’m sorry. I don’t really know how to talk about this stuff.”

“How long has is been going on?” Sam asked, nearly in a whisper. The guy looked heartbroken, and you felt like dirt.

You rubbed your neck awkwardly, you knew they weren’t going to like the answer you had for them. “Umm, this is my second cycle of chemo.”

Sam tried to stay composed but your admission took him by surprise. “Wha- SECOND? You didn’t think to call me after the first? Why the hell haven't you said anything?” he whispered angrily, trying not to draw attention from the other patients. It was a futile effort though, there wasn’t much entertainment in the treatment room so all eyes were locked on the display.

“Sam please, not here,” you begged, tears starting to form in your eyes as you looked around.

“She's right Sammy,” Dean replied calmly, noticing the attention as well. “Let’s just get her home and we'll figure it all out then.” You let out a breath, thankful to Dean for taking control.

“Thank you. I have my car so I’ll just m-”

“Wait, you drove here?” Dean scolded loudly. Well, so much for having calm big brother on your side.

“Is there a problem with that?” you asked defensively.

“You barely look like you can walk Y/N, let alone drive. What are you thinking?” Dean chided, and your ears grew hot with anger.

“Excuse me?” you asked, your voice low and dangerous. He’d only heard you speak to one other person like that before and it was Crowley when he dared to called you “sweetcheeks”.

He sighed, realising he was out of line, and tried to back-pedal. “I just mean…”

“No, I know what you meant Dean. You know, just because I’m going through this doesn’t make me a damn invalid. And sure I’ve lost a little weight and my hair’s a bit thinner but hey, that’s what’s gonna happen when my body is being pumped with poisoned to kill the asshole tumour growing in my noggin. But none of that really matters because I’ll probably be dead in a few months time anyway.”

As the conversation had become more and more heated the nurse was quietly and graciously removing your IV, she could clearly see this conversation was uncomfortable for you and wanted you to have the option to remove yourself from it if need be. It was all you needed to get up off your chair and start walking out the door, leaving the brothers behind you.

“Go after her and I’ll call security,” you heard Tess warn, and if you hadn’t been pissed as fuck you would have smiled. You’d developed a good repore with her in the time you’d been in the hospital, and considered her your closest friend at this point in your life. No-one else knew about what you were going through, you had quit your job ages ago and were supporting yourself with your safely stored away inheritance. You were thankful to not hear heavy footsteps following after you, and headed quickly to your car to head home. You didn’t know if you’d have enough of a head start to beat them.

----------------------------------------------

You were panting by the time you reached your front door. The headache had started on the way home and the stress of what had just transpired with the brothers was becoming too much in your state. You grabbed your keys out of your bag but your eyes became blurry, and you leaned your forehead against the door frame as you rubbed the bridge of your nose. Staying where you were you looked down as you found the key you needed, and gently leaned over to put it into the door. The roar of the Impala came around the corner and you groaned… why couldn’t they just give you a little time to process? Bloody men!

To your annoyance the key wasn’t fitting in the lock and you threw your hands up in the air in frustration, your head still resting on the door frame. You heard them pull up to your sidewalk and quickly tried to find the key you needed, only to drop them on the ground.

“What the fuckity fuck!” you cried out loud, stomping your foot in frustration like a 5 year old. You gave up and slumped on the sun chair by your front door, holding your head in your hands with your elbows on your knees. The car doors slammed and you could hear them walking up the path to your front porch.

“Y/N?” Sam called out when he saw you, and when you made no move to greet them he and Dean quickly raced to your side. “Hey, Y/N, you OK?” he asked, brushing the hair behind your ear.

“Stupid fucking key wouldn’t go in the stupid fucking lock,” you told him bitterly, and you heard Dean pick them up.

“I see the brain tumour hasn’t dampened your potty mouth,” Dean told you wryly, and you lifted your head gently to look at him.

“Did you just joke about my cancer?” you asked him with a smirk. He cleared his throat, obviously uncomfortable with the mention of the C word, but he pushed through it and gave a tight smile.

“Do you need Sam’s help to get inside?”

“Um, I don’t think so. I think I’ll be ok, thanks,” you responded, giving Sam a smile as you stood. You screamed at yourself internally when your left knee buckled, and quick as a flash Sam’s arms were around you.

“Y/N?” he asked, sounding more scared than you liked to hear from him. You closed your eyes and nodded, swallowing thickly.

“I’m ok, just tired. Maybe I could use the help after all,” you admitted, not daring to meet his gaze. You were grateful when he didn’t swoop you into his arms, instead wrapping your arm over his shoulder and supporting you as you walked into your living room together. Dean grabbed your bag and put it on the floor by the door as he closed it, following you both.

Once Sam had you seated on the couch he took the spot next to you, Dean opting to lean against the wall instead.

“Do you need anything?” Sam asked, watching you carefully.

You shook your head. “I’m ok. You guys help yourself though, there’s some beer in the fridge I think.” When Dean’s jaw clenched you gave a small smile. “I keep it there for you guys, I’m not drinking I swear.”

He relaxed and nodded, crossing his arms over his chest letting the room fall into an uncomfortable silence. You found yourself picking at your sweater sleeve as you considered your next move.

“Thank you,” you told them quietly. “For not making me feel completely useless right now. I’m sorry I blew up at the hospital, that wasn’t fair.”

“No, you’re under a lot of stress, we get it,” Sam told you kindly, and you shook your head.

“You didn’t deserve that. What you did deserve to know was that I’m sick, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I just didn’t know how, I tried so many times but it just wouldn’t come out.”

“It’s a, uh, brain tumour?” Dean asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Yer, found out about a couple of months ago I think. I dunno, the days are starting to run together a little bit.”

“What do the doctors say?” Sam asked, and you could hear the reluctance as he did. He didn’t want to know this anymore than you didn’t want to tell him. You sighed, and looked up to meet their gaze.

“It’s aggressive, growing fast and they can’t operate right now. They’re trying to slow it down and hopefully shrink it with chemo before looking at surgery as an option, but because of where it’s located and the speed that it’s growing they think there’s only a 5% chance they’ll be able to remove it before it… before it, ah…” you stumbled, clearing your throat as your eyes started to fill with tears. Shaking your head slightly, you swallowed down the massive lump in your throat before continuing. “I probably won’t make it, is basically what I’m trying to say.”

Silence filled the room, and you let it this time. You were beyond exhausted, the treatment and this conversation were draining the very last of your energy. Despite your best efforts your eyelids began to droop, you barely noticed when you started to slide toward the cushions. Gentle murmurs barely broke through your haze, and you couldn’t find the energy even to acknowledge the one of them who lifted you up bridal style and carried you up the stairs to your bedroom. The fluffy pillows and quilt enveloped you, and without ever opening your eyes you drifted off to sleep.

-----------------

Sam stood at your bedside, watching you sleep. He'd never seen you looking so vulnerable, and it was scaring the crap out of him. This wasn't a monster he could fight for you, not a battle he could try and win on your behalf. This was the one thing no hunter ever expected to die from, knowing it would simply be too cruel an irony to befall them. And yet here you were: half the size you used to be, pale as a ghost and so frail you could barely stand. He stayed watching you for a while, making an easy decision in the process. Regardless of what Dean thought, he wouldn't be leaving this house without you again.

“Hey, did she stay asleep?” Dean asked as Sam came down the stairs and through to the kitchen. He had cracked a couple of beers and was currently whipping up some pancakes, their first home cooked meal since the last time they were in your house 3 months ago.

“Yer. Um, Dean, we need to talk-”

“So I was thinking that Y/N might be better off in the downstairs bedroom,” Dean started, cutting Sam off. “If she wants to that is. Just makes sense with the chemo kicking her in the ass so bad. You could take the study next to her so one of us is nearby, and I could take her room. Or vice versa, I don’t mind. Oh, and I had a quick look and there's a job going at a garage a few blocks from here, figured I could go out after we ate something and see if they'll take me on. Thought you’d rather be home for Y/N to take her to appointments and such, so no need to find you a job. We can figure out the rest when she wakes up. Now, do you want strawberries or blueberries with your pancakes?”

As Dean turned around holding two plates of stacks he found Sam staring at him like he was possessed. Dean rolled his eyes and took the plates to the dining table, heading back to the fridge for the toppings leaving Sam to catch up.

“So… you want to stay?” Sam asked incredulously.

“Why is that so hard to believe?” Dean asked defensively as he sat down, quickly shoving a large bite of pancake into his mouth.

“I dunno,” Sam shrugged. “I guess I just wasn’t expecting you to go all apple pie life on me.”

“This is for Y/N. She's saved our lives more times than I can count, now it's our turn to save hers. She's family,” he said with finality, gently pushing Sam’s plate toward him and gesturing for him to sit down. Sam smiled broadly and did as requested, mentally planning out the new life they were making for themselves.

CONT.

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SERIES MASTERLIST - CHAPTER TWO 

Tag Lists (Open)

Series Taglist: @deghostyboi , @dreaminemz

“Dean/Jensen” taglist:  @mrsambroserollinsacklesmgk, @perpetualabsurdity, @mlovesstories

“Everything” taglist: @angelsandwinchesters, @grace-for-sale, @growningupgeek, @iamnotsaneatall, @nanie5, @waywardasfudge, @im-dead-inside05, @julzdec, @adoptdontshoppets, @meghanbeinghappy, @sleepylunarwolf , @sammysgirl1997, @imaginationisgrowth, @screechingartisancashbailiff

People who requested tags, that I cannot tag (but will still mention because I feel bad :( ): @ronja-uebrick, @lilydarcy

[4birds-of-a-feather]

Chapter 25 - Here we are now, entertain us [part 6]

Birds Of a Feather

(In the previous chapters: the girls had a fight after Layla's decision to go visit WC Boyfriend, the Mookie guys have opened for Alice In Chains, McCready introduced Sara and Layla to Cornell and Cameron; now the Alice guys are about to go on stage... what’s going to happen?)

At that point the small group split for different reasons: Dave led Sara to the bar, determined to buy her a drink as some kind of reward for destroying that asshole who talked shit about him and his girlfriend, while Elias tagged along with Mike McCready, who was hoping to score another round. Soon after that, Cornell spotted Susan coming out from the backstage and instantly dropped his arm from Layla’s shoulders. “I guess the guys are about to start, see you later! Oh, and it was very nice to meet you, Miss Layla” he gave a quick kiss on the girl’s hand, excused himself and left to meet his girlfriend. “He’s very charming” she said after he left, smiling at Stone, who in response looked in the distance to give the umpteenth nasty look to McCready, that was already sitting at the bar. “He’s also very married” Eddie added sharply, making Stone’s and everyone’s head turn at the same time. “Really?” she asked surprised. “Yeah, didn’t you see the ring?” he pointed out at his own ring finger. “Uhm, not really… I saw he had a few but I didn’t notice the wedding ring” Layla shrugged and took a sip of her beer. “Eddie’s a very good observer, aren’t you? You’re especially good at keeping certain situations under control” Stone said with a smirk. “I didn’t need to notice that, he told me he got married a few months ago, so I already knew” “Don’t make Chris look like an asshole, though! He wasn’t tricking you, Layla, he’s just… he’s flirty, that’s the way he is” Matt chimed in to defend the singer. “Soooo, the conclusion is: sorry Layla, not a snowball’s chance with that guy!” Jeff giggled, patting her on her shoulder. “Heeey, what’s with all this fuss? It’s not like I said I was interested, hehe, I was just acknowledging his charming ways, that’s all. I know he wasn’t flirting on me” she dismissed with another shrug. <Of course he was just being flirty because that's the way it is, he wasn't hitting on me for real... Nobody does. Eddie only did because he was wasted and Elias because he's a fucking weirdo obsessed with boobs. Nobody really gives a fuck about me here...> Layla told herself, while Jeff started clearing his voice. “Cough, cough! Ehm, sour grapes, ehm ehm” he said, eyeing both Layla’s and Eddie’s fed up faces, and the girl ended up smiling and jokingly pushing him away. “Shut up or I will move out from your apartment” she threatened. “Ahahahah! And why the fu-” “I’ll move out alone, leaving my dear friend Sara with you” Layla completed her sentence and laughed at the look of horror on the bassist’s face.

Not just Jeff, but the whole gang went silent when commotion from the crowd was heard and the lights on the audience went out, whereas the stage lit up. The host talked on the mic, mentioning that the proceeds of the concert were going to a benefit fundation and the guys of the band were already on stage. He then made sure everybody’d drive safe in the snow storm that had been hitting Seattle in those days and went on to introduce the band as Columbia recording artists Alice in Chains. “Finally!” Matt exclaimed “How long is it since we left the stage?” he wondered aloud, looking at his watch. “It’s like we’ve been waiting for hours” Layla remarked as she was jumping in place and stretching a little. “I’d say for days” Eddie corrected and cautiously smiled at the girl, as if he wanted to check if she was upset for his previous comments on Cornell or not. “Seriously, it felt like years to me, I’m going upfront!” this said, Jeff ran and disappeared into the crowd, soon followed by Matt. “Well, good luck!” Stone smirked shaking his head, then suddenly realized he was left alone with the couple that wasn’t an actual couple “Errr, I’ll go on in the crowd and take a look anyway, what about you?” “I’ll stay here for now” Layla said as Man In The Box started playing. “I’ll stay here too” Eddie confirmed, Stone gave him a thumbs up and left. The two of them were enjoying the beginning of the show, bobbing their heads to the music without talking, but casually stealing glances at each other from time to time. Layla was intrigued by Ed but still couldn’t understand him. Sometimes he was warm and tender with her, sometimes he was cold as ice, sometimes he got all protective towards her (it even looked like he was jealous), sometimes he blatantly let her know he had no interest in her. <But what if it's all in my head? What if all these mixed signals are just something I made up because I felt lonely and abandoned by David? Maybe he's simply being a friend and I'm just projecting my idea of the perfect boyfriend on him because he's gentle and sweet andhe’s here> Layla thought during Cantrell’s solo. That made sense to her and would also explain why she got so mad at Eddie for getting in the way between David and her during that infamous phone call: she idealized Ed and couldn’t accept he made a mistake.

The first song ended and the crowd cheered. Eddie and Layla finally turned to look at each other at the same time and they both couldn’t help smiling; he got so many things to tell her but, at the same time, he had no idea how to do that. Being at a loud rock concert there really wasn’t a choice and he took it as an excuse to not saying anything. Finally, the singer decided to break the silence during the short break between songs. “Are you mad at me?” he asked while they were still smiling at each other. “What?” Layla turned serious all of a sudden. “I’m sorry for what I said before, I didn’t mean to sound harsh or anything… I mean, it wasn’t a lecture or a warning, I just told you he’s married because… because…” Eddie seemed to struggle finding the words and he knew he had zero time before the band would start playing the next song. “… Because he is” Layla continued his sentence. “Yes, because he is. And I didn’t want you to maybe find out later and be disappointed or something and-” “I’m not mad at you, Eddie.” she shook her head “And I wasn’t disappointed” <And what does it mean? That she didn't delude herself thanks to what I told her? That she wasn't into Chris in the first place so there was nothing to be disappointed about? That she wasn't disappointed by me since I acted as a good friend?> Eddie was considering saying something but the music started once again. “Ooooh, I love this song! Let’s go ahead a little” Layla took his hand and literally dragged him towards the front.

In the meantime, Sara was trying to do the same with Mike, Dave and Elias and drag them away from the bar. She managed to convince the drummer, but McCready insisted he had a perfect view of the stage from there and held on to his drink, while her coworker had no intention to walk away from the hot barista with the pierced tongue. “An alcoholic and a perv, what a nice couple you are!” she shook her head and addressed Krusen “Fuck ‘em, I wanna go front row, ok?” “I’m in!” he cheered and the two made their way through the crowd – quite easily, after all – ending up rather quickly in front of the stage, right when the third song ended. Sara was standing exactly in front of Layne as he was addressing the crowd, when she felt someone tapping fingers on her shoulders. “Hey, could you go back? You’re blocking my view and your beanie is too distracting” Stone basically yelled at her face as she turned around. “How did you get here so fast, Gossrad? Did you use your bass player as a battering ram?” “What else are bass players for anyway? I could have made it even faster if I used your head, though” he retorted and the girl stuck her tongue out at him. Jeff appeared right behind Stone’s back when Love, Hate, Love started and Sara abruptly turned around and huffed as she cursed her rotten luck. She moved towards the left as she took off her hat – it was too hot – and immediately made eye contact with Starr on stage, who immediately winked at her (she didn’t really notice that because of the lights). <Well, it's not Lanegan but I'll just settle for this now> she thought as she enjoyed the show and exchanged looks with Mike from time to time. These interactions didn’t go unnoticed to Jeff, who was kind of shocked when he found himself staring at the girl and his colleague on stage alternatively. “FUCK, THIS IS MY FAVORITE!” some girl suddenly screamed into his ear and he recognized her immediately. He turned around to see Layla and Eddie jumping around as another song started and, looking closer, he noticed they were holding hands. Jeff snorted and tried to focus back on the music. <If she's half a bitch as her friend, poor you! But you can't say I didn't warn you, Ed> In the meantime, Sara spotted her friend with Ed too as she talked into his ear, he nodded and in a second she was sitting on the singer’s shoulders. <I seriously underestimated his strentgh: he's not that weak if he can carry a beanpole like El> she pondered. Layla took a good look around, then raised her hands in the air and not so slowly leaned back until she felt people’s hands underneath her; she finally detatched herself from Eddie, spread her arms out and started crowd surfing. Vedder kept an eye on her during the whole ride with a huge smile on his face and Sara forgot for a minute that he was her worst enemy’s best friend, realized that he and her roommate really looked happy together and thought that, if only El would rip that plane ticket to pieces, burn bridges with David and her old life, let herself go and trust herself and Eddie like she was doing now – throwing the rock’n’roll horn sign as she was being passed on by unknown people in the crowd – her life would have been much easier.

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Mike slipped quickly in the backstage, freshened up and gulped down half a bottle of water, emptying the rest above his head; after drying his curls as best as he could, he literally ran out of the dressing room and joined the spectators that were still mingling there even if the show had ended. He absentmindedly accepted praises and friendly pats on the shoulder, his head more inclined to scan the audience rather than focusing on all the people approaching him. Suddenly his face split in a broad grin and, after excusing himself, he quickly caught up with the girl that was turning her back on him; the bass player smirked again and got ready for that much awaited meeting. “Guess who I am!” he finally hugged her from behind, making the most of that sudden closeness to leave a kiss on her hair. Needless to say, the girl was taken by surprise: she jumped, let out a scared shriek, blushed to the roots of her hair and finally turned herself to face the person she had to blame for that almost successful heart attack. “Blueberry, huh? I like it, it smells great” he added with a grin, playing with one of her braids and then using its little tuft to softly poke her nose in a teasing yet affectionate way. She flushed for the umpteenth time. “Cazzarola, Mike, I nearly died!” “I’m happy to see you too, Sunshine” Starr grinned, this time leaving a caress upon her red cheek “So, how is my favorite U-Dub student doin’?” “Hmph, f-favorite because I’m the only one you know…” Sara sneered, finally able to regain a bit of her natural complexion “Anyway, not bad… I’d feel better if somebody hadn’t made me believe that Lanegan was the surprise guest, though!” A few steps from them, Layla ignored her best friend’s decision to suddenly raise her voice and kept on chit-chatting with Eddie. Sara shook her head in disbelief – can you believe this bastard?! – but the bass player resumed to talk, shaking her out of her thoughts. “Man, that must have been really disappointing!” “You tell me…” the girl made her best puppy face and Starr smiled at her, a bit in awe. “Well, I think that Layne can clearly stand comparison with Lanegan’s vocal skills… buuuut, if you’re talkin’ about good looks, we could easily say that-” “MIIIIIIIKEEEEEEE!” The two of them turned in the direction from where the voice was coming, and noticed someone waving and approaching them, while keeping on shouting the bass player’s name. “We have visitors, Mike” Sara teased him, while the guy muttered a “Jesus Harold Christ on a fucking rubber crutch…” that clearly revealed his enthusiasm for that sudden interruption. The interruption finally reached them and revealed herself to be a fake blonde in a miniskirt, who, after noticing Sara’s presence, immediately shot a nasty glance at her. Needless to say, the other girl burst into laughter, a gesture that pissed off the new-entry, but that was able to make Mike laugh up his sleeve. “Say, are we going?!” she addressed him while impatiently tapping her foot, but the guy tried to make her understand that he wasn’t available. “Sorry, Terry, Jackie or whatever the fuck your name is, but I’m busy right now… and even after right now” “… Busy? With her? Are you serious???” the fake blonde bored holes into Sara with her gaze, but the other girl didn’t lose her aplomb. “Yeah, basically we were having this discussion about Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems… if you want, you can join us” “… I think I’d better be going, I can’t stand your presence anymore” “Can’t say the feeling isn’t mutual” Sara bowed slightly and the other girl, hugely pissed off, gave her the middle finger and finally stormed out. After a while, Mike turned to face Sara and a broad grin split his face: “You, girl, are seriously one of a kind… Look at that, she literally ran for her life! I swear to God, I’ll never be able to thank you enough for freeing me” “There’s no need to do it, I think the satisfaction of seeing you refusing the company of a vamp is enough… I’m quite amused, I must admit it” she laughed and he did the same. “So, where were we?” “I can’t remember… shall we go back to square one?” “With pleasure” he took a bow, grinning when she noticed his teasing and stuck her tongue out “Say, did you enjoy the show?” “Yeah, you guys did an awesome job! You’re getting better and better, it’s amazing” “Hey, thanks! You know, Iggy Pop’s audience didn’t seem to think the same, so we’re really glad to see that Seattle didn’t abandon us… this was a sold-out, ya know?” Mike admitted, pretty proud of his band. “It’s the least we could do, you guys totally deserve it” the girl smiled at him and he replied with a wink. “But heeeey, there’s Layla too!” the bass player finally acknowledged her roommate’s presence and leaned over her to greet her “I’m glad to see you too, you look great” Layla waved back at him and then quickly resumed to chit-chat with Eddie – apparently she didn’t want to waste any more time. Starr took no offence and instead turned his attention toward someone else, who was intent on sipping his fourth – fifth? – beer of the evening. “Oh, is this your boyfriend?” he asked the girl, pointing out Elias with a sly smile. “HELL NO! It’s just a colleague, Elias” she promptly explained, while the person involved introduced himself to the bass player and then gave her the middle finger. “Glad to hear it… but, even if he had been your sweetheart, I wouldn’t have been jealous at all” Starr grinned again, a smile that became brighter when he noticed Sara’s cheeks turning red for the umpteenth time. “No doubts about it, Mike” she sighed, preferring to fidget her hat in the hands instead of trying to hold his stare. “Oh, this reminds me something” the guy promptly changed topic “Sorry if I didn’t come to see you at the record store but, as I already said, we were pretty busy with the tour” “I see, don’t worry” she shrugged “However, we closed down, ya know?” “What? And how are you still managing to live, if you don’t have a permanent job?” “Legitimate question, since I don’t have an army of chicks disposed to buy me food and pay my bills…” Sara finally let out a relaxed chuckle, laughing even more when Mike flushed with a bit of embarrassment. “You sunk my battleship, I must admit my defeat!” he raised his hands, then took advantage of the girl’s temporary lack of attention to carry her on his shoulders. “OH NO, YOU DIDN’T” “Oooh yes, I did!” he parroted her, keeping her in place even though she was struggling to break free from his grip. “C’mon, Mike, drop me dooooooown!” “But you don’t bother me at all, you’re light as a feather!” “Thanks but I already know it and-hey! Don’t change the subject, you bastard!” the girl resumed to protest, making him laugh, then suddenly noticed someone in the distance “Hey, isn’t that Jerry?” The bass player turned to where she had just pointed at and saw his bandmate leaving with a young lady and her rainbow sweater. “Yeah, and he seems in good company… but the same could be said about me!” he quickly added, finally dropping her down. “Hmmm, ‘good’ is not the adjective I’d use for my presence… Go ask the vamp for a further confirmation” the girl grinned again, a hand still lingering on his naked chest; when she finally realized where it was, she quickly removed it and mumbled a quick apology that delighted Mike. “I don’t care what she thinks…” he shrugged, giving her a meaningful look “Too bad I only see you at gigs, I should have seriously paid you visit at the record store while I could” “Weeeell,” she cleared her throat, then proceeded to add in a casual way a “it just so happens now I’m currently working at Easy Street Records…” “I’ll come to see ya, you can bet on it” he beamed again at her. “Only if you promise me you won’t interfere with my job schedule, mr. Starr” “I’ll try to do my best, even if the temptation of kidnapping you is huge, miss Fancini” “Hey, how do you-” “I’ve got my secret informers” Mike interrupted her with a conspiratorial grin, then turned to his right “Oh, hi guys” Sara followed his gaze and met Stone and Jeff’s own ones – she gave the first one a quick nod and deliberately ignored the bass player, still shaken up after what had happened the night before. “Starr, I need my tuner back” was Ament’s abrupt greeting, while Gossard rested his hand on her shoulder. At first a bit taken aback, Mike quickly recovered and gave him a “Sure, buddy, let’s go get it” that made the other bass player tense. Sara noticed it but didn’t say anything – in the meantime Starr had already diverted his attention toward her. “Well, milady, it seems to me that the time to say goodbye for us has already come… A real shame” “I couldn’t disagree with you, sir” “But fear not: on my word as a gentleman, I can personally guarantee you that soon I’ll stop by Easy Street Records” “Then I’ll be surely glad to have you as a customer” she faked a graceful bow “Until next time, lord Starr” “Until next time, lady Fancini; I’m already counting the days that will keep us apart” and, thus said, he grabbed her hand and placed a quick kiss on the back of it – all that without tearing his gaze away from her. She blushed, diverted her gaze from his chest (that was peeking from his open shirt) to stole a glance at Jeff – who looked exactly like he did when she had done something just for the joy of pissing him off (how on Earth wasn’t he freezing his ass off with just that stupid tank top on??) – flushed again for that last thought and then watched the two of them finally disappear in the crowd. “It’s comforting to see how chivalry is still practiced nowadays… I guess that the fact he’s born in Honolulu plays a great role” Stone winked at her. “Yeah… I guess so” she replied absent-mindedly, still looking at the door behind which the bass players had vanished. “Well, I’m gonna come back in five minutes, so… Wait for me” Gossard added and, thus said, he went in the same direction of Mike and Jeff, leaving her alone with her thoughts. Sara hunched her shoulders and mulled again over what she had just witnessed: the two musicians had already seen each other and she could feel that their encounter hadn’t ended on a positive note. Mike had been able to hide his annoyance, whereas Ament wasn’t even trying to dissimulate his evident edginess: had something happened backstage? Did he witness their whole exchange? Had he been bothered by it? And if so, why on Earth would he give a single fuc-? She stopped abruptly, sudden flashes finally coming back to her: her fingers intertwining around a neck, strong arms carrying her to bed, the pleasant warmth irradiating from a chest against her cheek, calloused hands carefully brushing against her skin… the spicy scent of a particular aftershave that she hadn’t smelled in five years and that she had missed with all her heart. She immediately put a hand over her mouth to not let a frightened scream escape from it. <You swore to yourself this wouldn’t happen again… YOU SWORE IT!> But instead she felt all those five years, one by one, slowly slipping from under her feet and leaving her there, standing petrified – again seventeen, again kicked by the cruel things that had forged her… again defenseless under his gaze. Her eyes began to fill with tears and she gasped for some fresh air; she found herself suddenly outside, the snowflakes already tinging her hair and tickling her nose. The girl hadn’t been able yet to properly calm herself when, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed somebody already reaching her. “Did you really think that Kinney and me are cousins?” Elias asked her after a while, still surprised for her previous assumption. “I just wished it wasn’t true, that’s all” she sniffled, making him shrug, and the two of them resumed to watch the snow in silence, together.

************************************************************************************************ “Oh, thank Cthulhu I’ve found ya!” Gossard snapped, finally reaching the girl and already regretting his decision of freezing his ass outside “Where the fuck have you been?! I told ya to wait for me – it took me less than 5 minutes… but no, you couldn’t waste all that time for me, huh? Why is everybody being such an asshole lately?! First Ames and now you too… Well, missy, what’s your pathetic exc-?” The guitarist stopped himself because Elias nudged him – careful not to let Sara notice his gesture – and beckoned to him to pay attention to her miserable expression; Stone immediately noticed her red eyes and mentally cursed his best friend: nobody could convince him that Jeff hadn’t played a role in that. “You know what? Forget it, these last few hours were a bit stressful for me… but I shouldn’t have taken it out on you, I’m sorry” he awkwardly patted her on the back, and she shrugged. “… it’s alright” <No, it isn’t, but you’re a fierce little shrimp and you’ll never admit it> he thought, then threw his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer; she closed her eyes and wished to crawl in her bed as soon as possible.    That calm was suddenly interrupted by the storm, appeared in the form of Ament and Krusen dragging an almost unconscious McCready. “I can’t believe this sack of shit weighs so much!” “As thin as a rake but he fooled us all… never judge a book by its cover, Ament” “Oi, Krusen, just gimme a fuckin’ break here!” “Have I ever told you that I love you, Jeffyyyyy????” Mike suddenly slurred, clinging on to Jeff’s waist and looking exactly like he had the intention of snogging him. “You’re never gonna drink again, Cready! You hear me? Ever!” the bass player screamed, trying to shake his bandmate off, then turned to look at Gossard because he had heard him sneer. Faced with the scene of his historical enemy cuddled up to his best friend, he found himself frowning and more and more perplexed – maybe fed up was the most correct term, but he would never admit it, not even for all the gold in the world. Ignoring Mike’s protest for all those sudden movements, Jeff turned again toward the Moore’s entrance: just a matter of seconds and his flatmate came out walking arm in arm with none other than Four Eyes. <Is this a group outing or a fuckin’ wedding agency gathering?! Look at all these lovebirds – UGH, I THINK I’M GONNA PUKE> “Soooo? You guys are good? Everything’s alright?” Stone sent the new-entries a knowing look, wiggling his eyebrows so blatantly that he thought they would have fallen off his face. “Oh, yeah! We just finished to have a chat with Chris – he introduced me to Susan, she seems really nice and interesting!” Layla immediately explained, a flood of words enthusiastically pouring out of her mouth. Gossard sighed in relief: once again, McCready had been able to avoid a disaster – courtesy of him, obviously – without lifting a single finger. Although lost in a drunken stupor, the other guitarist seemed to understand what had just happened and gave him the thumbs up, along with the stupidest yet brightest grin he could muster up in that moment; Stone shook his head and gave him the middle finger – all of that without letting disappear the playful smirk he had plastered on his lips. “GUESS WHO I AM?” an unknown high-pitched voice broke the peaceful moment outside the venue. Everybody turned to see a tall girl with a head full of red curls that had approached Eddie from behind and was now covering his eyes with her hands. Actually, she wasn’t totally unknown… at least not to everybody. “Oh… well… uhm…” Eddie mumbled, while a second dark haired girl in a jet black biker jacket stormed into the circle of friends, basically pushing Layla away from the singer and taking her place. “If you give the wrong answer, you won’t be coming to our party” giggled the second girl, but Eddie didn’t look so eager to take part to the game. “Is it… Theresa maybe?” he guessed with a grimace. “Hahaha nooo! She is Theresa, I am Sylvia!” the redhead exclaimed, removing her hands from Vedder’s face and resting them on his shoulders as she leaned forward to talk to him. “Sylvia with a Y like Sylvia Plath” Stone explained the name of Jeff’s friend to the others. <Wow, Sylvia with a Y, that's so unique! I've got a Y in my name too but I don't make such a big deal of it...> Layla thought as she observed the two girls who were all over Eddie. “And who’s that? Did we meet her?” Sylvia addressed Jeff first, got no answer and then her friend, who just shrugged “Anyway, it’s with a Y like Sylvia, Kansas. That’s where my mom was born” “Interesting!” Elias nodded as he was shamelessly checking out both girls. “But you didn’t recognize me and I feel very offended right now” the girl pouted, giving Eddie puppy eyes. <Fuck, from the nasty look she's giving to her, I guess Layla wishes she'd meet the same fate as Plath. Too bad Sara is not her usual self, she'd have destroyed these two> Stone noticed as Jeff’s friends kept on talking. “Cut him some slack, Syl! He just met you a couple of hours ago” Ament finally spoke a word and stuck his hands into the pockets of his jacket when it looked like McCready could stand without any help, but immediately grasped him back as he started to dangerously sway left and right. “Now you gotta come to our party to cheer her up” Theresa remarked, almost jumping. “But… wasn’t I supposed to give the correct answer to be invited?” Eddie asked confused. “Ugh, you ask too many questions!” Sylvia blurted out. “… And think too much” her friend added. “Are we invited too?” Elias asked eagerly. “Ehm… well… our apartment is not that big, it’s just for a small group of friends, you know” Theresa dismissed him with little embarassment. “Very small” Sylvia remarked, winking at Eddie. “I don’t take much space. And I can bring the booze” Elias insisted and made everyone laugh, apart from Sara and Mike who seemed like zombies for very different reasons. “We’ve already got plenty of alcohol, thank you. So? Will you come to our place?” the brunette looked at Eddie and Jeff alternatively, impatiently waiting for an answer. “Actually, I’m kind of tired… I don’t really feel like partying right now, I’d much rather lay down in a bed” Eddie nervously scratched his nape as he tried to be gentle in his rejection. “One does not exclude the other” Sylvia clutched his right shoulder and Layla blatantly gasped. “Ok, calm down ladies, we gotta bring Mr. Designated Drinker here home first. I’ll catch up with you later, ok?” Jeff chimed in to save the situation, seeing that his friend was uncomfortable. “Uhm, can’t you just call him a cab?” Sylvia pointed out looking at how Mike was slouching against his friend. “No, we can’t. Good night, girls!” Layla broke into the conversation, grabbed Eddie by his arms and literallly dragged him away, followed by the gang. “Hurry up, Jeff, we won’t be waiting all night long!” Theresa hollered then gave a weird look at Elias, the only one who hadn’t moved. “Aren’t you helping taking your drunk friend home?” Sylvia asked puzzled. “No, I was all for the cab. Do I have to call one for us or you’ve got a car?” he insisted. “Hahaha! Not if you were the last man on earth, baby, sorry!” the girl said, waving him goodbye. “Bye, dreamer!” Theresa did the same and the two friends disappeared, as the guy stuck his tongue at them and quickly tried to catch up with his cousin and the rest of the group, who were heading for the van. “Is there room for all of us?” Elias asked, eyeing the inside of the band van filled with instruments. “Didn’t you just say you take very little space?” Dave asked him, playfully shoving him. “What the fuck are you doing?” Jeff asked as Gossard placed his palm over the bassist’s forehead. “Uhm… it’s cold… you’ve got no fever” Stone concluded with an extremely serious expression on his face, while Eddie was helping Layla get into the van. “The fuck are you talking about?” “You’ve just said no to a private party with two girls, you must be sick for sure” Stone grinned and the wider the guitarist smiled, the angrier Jeff got. “You know what? You’re damn right, there must be something wrong with me if I prefer going back home with a bunch of jerks like you, rather than have some fun! Fuck you, Stone! Take care of our friend of the Dead Liver Society by yourself, I have a party to go to!” Jeff abruptly let go of Mike – who instantly collapsed over Stone – and walked away. “Where the fuck are you going??? There’s a snow storm coming!” Stone called for him and would have flailed his arms too, if only they had been free. He looked at an agonizing Mike on his left and a comatose Sara on his right and rolled his eyes, before the three of them clumsily reached for the van.

************************************************************************************************ As Stone was taking everybody home, Layla felt tired all of a sudden and was almost drifting off to sleep as her head slowly fell and leaned against Eddie’s shoulder. He exhaled as he enjoyed the feel of her against his body and thought about how every time he thought he had figured that girl out, she then ended up doing something completely unexpected and surprising him. He was sure she would say no and laugh it off when he challenged her to crowdsurf, instead she took up on his offer immediately. <I like to feel disoriented> He was almost sorry when the van stopped right in front of their condo and he had to wake her up. “Hey, we’re home” he shook his shoulder as lightly as he could and she opened one of her eyes. Eddie’s words worked as an alarm clock for Sara too, who sprung out of the vehicle and quickly made her way towards the building as her two roommates slowly followed, trying to catch up with her. “Thank youuu, Stoneyyyyy” Layla yawned as she waved goodbye to the guitarist, who was now alone on the van. “Good night, Sleeping Beauties!” Gossard told them, before rolling up the window and leaving.

************************************************************************************************ <God bless The Pink Door…> Jeff thought, saying goodbye to its owner and clutching a bottle of Moscato in his right hand. The pleasant warmth of the venue gave immediately way to the intense cold that was waiting outside, making him instantly shiver. “Damn me and my stroke of genius – naked knees and all that shit” he took the first sip of wine and started walking toward Pike Place, the wind hitting him with lashings of snowflakes. All the clever people in Seattle had chosen to stay inside, so the city was practically desert – the rarefied atmosphere reminded him of The Dead, that Joyce’s short story that he had liked ever since he had studied it at school. In that moment he felt exactly like its main character, his mind bursting with too many thoughts: what kind of future was waiting for him? Had his refusal to compromise been the right choice? From a moral point of view it surely had been, but sometimes he found himself wondering if that was seriously all life could offer him – maybe a more stable job would have given him plenty of opportunities that his current lifestyle precluded him…    He sighed: no matter how many times he had told himself not to think too much, he couldn’t help it – that was just how he was, no point in changing this behavior after twenty-seven years, right?  In the meantime his feet had dragged him down the 1st Avenue; he raised his eyes and found the Seattle Art Museum standing out against the sky, just in front of him. “Long time no see, pal…” he smiled to himself, sipped his wine for the umpteenth time and went to sit on the steps in front of its entrance. Jeff went to reminisce how many times he had actually visited it, and was surprised to realize that he had been walking down its corridors only once, when he had just moved to the Emerald City. “Weeell, gotta add this to the New Year’s resolutions” he concluded, lifting the bottle in a “cheers” gesture and realizing he had already almost emptied it. “Shit, I should have bought another one…” he muttered, then stood up and turned to Pike Street, in order to go on with his wanderings. He walked past the Paramount Theatre and the Northwest School, all places linked to his past – recent and not – and then decided to end his walk in the park near Hendrix’s statue. The bass player climbed over the grating (only to discover that the warden had forgotten to lock the main gate) and then instinctively looked for his skateboard, but apparently he had left it at The Moore. He cursed himself for having already finished the bottle; now he would have needed it more than ever.

In the end, he found out that not buying a second bottle of wine had been a wonderful choice: it had been a while since he had actually enjoyed some free time without the strong urge of drowning himself in alcohol. He had also forgotten how much he liked spending some time alone, just watching the sky or his surroundings… just him, a multitude of snowflakes falling above the lake and the noise of the city in the background. Italian wine? Northwest School? He could almost hear that asshole of Gossard sneering at him, teasing for his peculiar choices that lead to a certain someone… <How the hell did we end like this?> Jeff sighed, but the snow didn’t answer him. Maybe it was better like that, maybe not getting an answer was the best thing for him… maybe he already knew it, and was simply choosing not to pay attention to it. Maybe.

************************************************************************************************ “No point in running, Sara, if you don’t have the keys…” Vedder said in a not so low voice as he and Layla got in the hallway that led to their apartment and spotted Sara leaning against the door with her arms folded over her chest. The girl didn’t say anything, but the look she gave to him made him pick up the pace a little. Once they got inside, Sara murmured a feeble “…‘night” and went straight to her room, shutting the door behind her. <This is disorienting too, but not in a good way> Eddie reflected, dragging Layla to her room. “Oh, finally!” Layla sighed as she plopped down face first onto her bed. “Are you ok? Can I leave or…?” Eddie asked nervously. “I’m fine” the girl’s voice came out muffled through the duvet. “Shouldn’t you at least take your boots off?” “Yeah” she replied and remained still without actually doing anything. Eddie called her once again and, when she didn’t answer, he started taking off her boots. <I hope she doesn't try to kick me like I did when I was drunk> he pondered and was lucky enough not to be hit by Layla’s heels. “Now you can sleep, good night” he said, while the girl started to slowly pull the duvet aside and sneak into bed. “G’night” she mumbled, covering herself up to her nose. He smiled to himself and was about to leave the room when suddenly he remembered a detail. “Layla? Hey, Layla? You can’t sleep with your glasses on, you gotta take them off” Eddie shook her a little getting a low grumbling as a reply “C’mon, you might break them. I know the new pair Sara got you is really cool, but that’s not a good reason to destroy the old ones. And you might get hurt too” the singer kept trying until he saw Layla wriggle under the covers and stretch out her arm to reach out for her nightstand and place her glasses right there. Unfortunately she missed the target and they fell on the floor. <Shit> Eddie lit up the lamp, immediately got them back and made sure they were still intact. “Thank god” he whispered to himself as he put the glasses on the bedside table, but his hands froze and started to tighten around them the moment he noticed a familiar piece of paper. <A plane ticket?> He didn’t need to read it through, the first printed word he saw was the only thing that really mattered: BOSTON.

The thought she was going there once again to see him made him want to puke. He let go of the glasses and turned off the light, making the red numbers on the display of the clock radio stand out in the dark. “… Happy birthday to me” he muttered coldly as he left the room.

[rainteaanddragons]

Smoke & Mirrors: Twenty-Four - Finally

Prologue |  Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch3 | Ch4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Ch 9 | Ch10 | Ch 11 | Ch 12 | Ch 13 | Ch 14 | Ch 15 | Ch 16 | Ch 17 | Ch 18 | Ch 19 | Ch 20 | Ch 21 | Ch 22 | Ch 23 | Ch 24 |

Read on ff.net and ao3

"So take a chance on me, and I'll take a chance on you before we're just what was. Oh, this could be love, it feels like it's something more than temporary." - More Than Temporary, Tom Goss

When Natsu woke the next morning he felt an odd sense of calm. Slithers of light fell through the parted curtains, illuminating Gray's bare shoulders. Gray's bare shoulders…Gray? Natsu felt his breath catch in his throat as he remembered the night before. Gray had needed him, and for what felt like the first time in a while, he had been there for him and able to help. He felt a blush creep up his neck and onto his cheeks as he realised the conclusion he'd come to while lying next to Gray that night. Natsu knew Gray felt the same but there was so much history between them, and so much set in place for their future – both good and bad – Natsu wondered if this was a good idea at all. He didn't have much more time to dwell on his dilemma though, as Gray rolled over to face Natsu, blinking slowly to wake himself up.

"Natsu?" His voice was barely a whisper, but it wasn't long before he remembered what he'd asked his friend to do the night before. No wonder I slept well. "Th- thank you." He offered Natsu a lopsided smile.

"Morning Snowflake." The two words were out of his mouth before Natsu even had time to think. He wasn't sure what made him say it in the first place. Yet now, in this moment, they didn't feel wrong, it was as if he'd been waking up next to Gray for weeks. It wasn't like them sharing a bed was anything out of the ordinary, Natsu knew that, but something felt different now. Natsu liked it.

"Morning." Gray smiled. The nickname didn't sound so strange to him now. That first time he'd heard it in the hospital he'd been already so confused it had almost annoyed him. It had made Gray ache for a time he didn't even know existed. Hearing it now, lying in bed next to Natsu, it was almost the best thing he'd heard in days.

Natsu rolled over to rest on his back. "Are you going training with Lyon today?"

"Uh huh."

"We better get going then, right? It's already nine o'clock."

Gray chuckled, "You have a point. Though you don't need to go anywhere."

"True." Natsu chuckled, "I'll walk over with you anyway."

With some degree of difficulty on account of his bandages Gray rolled back over to the other side of the bed. This, because of his friend's pride, Natsu made a conscious effort to ignore. It wasn't long though before Gray was out of bed and dressed. Natsu joined him in the kitchen a little while later to find Gray making coffee. A messy, hand written note sitting on the bench told them that Happy had already headed over to the guild.

"Coffee?"

"No thanks." Natsu grinned, "Coffee doesn't seem to work well with me at all. My fire gets all messy."

Noted. "Fair enough." Gray sat at the kitchen bench. He studied Natsu over the rim of his coffee mug, unable to keep the fondness from his gaze. They sat in companionable silence for a while longer before Gray spoke again. "I wanted to thank you, Natsu, for last night… I just, I probably had the best sleep I'd had in a while."

Natsu smiled. "You don't need to thank me. Honestly Gray, I had the best night sleep too."

"Yeah, cause I wasn't waking you up." Gray chuckled.

"No need to put it like that," Natsu tried to counter Gray's comment but the look his friend gave him was enough to make him laugh too. "I did want to ask you though, was it you who got me back to the couch the past couple of nights? I just don't remember going back myself."

"Huh?" Gray frowned, "Back to… Oh, of course it was me dumbass! Who else would it have been?"

"But you- You're not that strong right now…"

"I am going to pretend you didn't just say that to me." A grin broke the look of mock offence on Gray's face as he glanced at Natsu next to him.

Natsu snorted.

"Seriously though, Natsu, I'm stronger than you think. It's just my mind which is still a complete mess."

"Fine, fine!" Natsu raised his hands in defeat. He paused for a moment before speaking again. When he did so, though, Natsu wasn't entirely sure what had made him say it. "You really are amazing though, surviving all that. You're doing so well, I-" Natsu faltered, not entirely sure how to finish.

"You've changed your tone."

"I'm serious, Gray, I was so scared of losing you that when you first disappeared, I drove myself mad looking. Then when we found you, there was so little I could do. I just- I'm glad I can help you now."

"Oh Natsu," Gray bumped his shoulder gently to his. "You've done more than you can ever imagine. You are the reason I managed to stay alive, I know now that it was you. Don't ever think you haven't done anything for me. It was you who kept me alive."

"Then, I need to tell you something Gray. Back then, I think I did know why they had taken you, it had just been so long that I thought everything to do with E.N.D. was over now, all of that. So for you to disappear so suddenly I didn't make the connection, I thought you'd been taken because of my failure to stop it happening, not because of something I was. In that moment then, I thought it was only guilt which had made me so angry. Now though, I know it wasn't just guilt, I was scared. Scared that I had just lost the person I cared about the most."

Natsu slipped down from the seat at the bench, and without realising, he began to pace. Gray watched him carefully, not entirely sure how to react.

"You, Gray, you are the only person I have ever felt this way about, but when it mattered, to you, to both of us, I was blind. I realise it now, just how long it must have been for you. Galuna Island, that wall of ice you put between me and Racer, what you did for me during the fight with Mard Geer, and everything else in between… You loved me from the beginning didn't you?" Natsu stopped mid pace. "I was so oblivious to your feelings I let you slip through my fingers… You almost died to protect me then, and I feel this isn't the first time. I have been so stupid, Gray. I'm sorry."

"But you-" Gray stared at Natsu, mouth slightly parted, eyes wide. Though his true memories were still not back, he could remember all of what Natsu referred to, if not slightly altered. "You ran. When I told you how I thought He had felt for you, how I felt, you ran."

"Of course I did." Natsu replied quietly, guilt twisting his stomach. "When have I not?"

Gray stood from his chair, walking over so he stood opposite Natsu. "You're here now, Natsu, that's what matters."

"Gray I-" Natsu's breath caught in his throat, he held his friends dark blue gaze, his heart beating somewhere in his throat.

"I know."

With a nervous smile Gray gently pulled Natsu closer to him. He paused, glancing down at Natsu's lips, as if asking for permission. In answer, Natsu closed the gap between them, pressing his lips to Gray's in a tentative kiss. Once Gray knew for sure that this was what Natsu wanted, he deepened the kiss, pulling Natsu closer. As they finally broke apart, Gray couldn't help but smile. He pressed his forehead to Natsu's, letting the hand which had rested on Natsu's cheek drop to clasp his hand.

"It really is about time we left, Lyon will be getting impatient."

Gray chuckled in response, "He can wait, patience would improve his character greatly." With a small shrug, he did what Natsu said anyway. With a slight reluctance Gray lead the way out of his apartment. He couldn't help the warm feeling in his chest as Natsu kept his hand in his as they walked towards the guild.

As they set foot in the guild hall a scream of delight shook Gray and Natsu from their happy daze. They both jumped in shock before instinctively trying to stand protectively in front of the other, resulting in Natsu shouldering Gray while the latter managed to trip over Natsu's feet. They ended up tumbling to the ground, limbs tangled.

All the while Erza was almost doubled over with laughter, Lucy, and Cana joining her as they gazed on Natsu and Gray on the floor.

"The hell!?" Natsu spluttered. He still sat on the ground, his fingers – somehow – still locked with Gray's.

"Finally!"

"How long has it been, do you think Cana?"

"Ten years at least." Cana grinned at Erza, "cough up!"

"You bet on us?" Gray frowned.

"Are you even surprised?" Loke stepped forward having overheard the commotion. "Good to see you two have finally got there." He offered Gray a hand up, then Natsu.

Lucy looked like she was almost in tears she was so happy. "I can't believe it. Now of all times too."

"What did you expect?" Erza looked smug, "They've been sharing an apartment for a week, and according to Happy, Natsu slept in Gray's room last night."

Happy looked sheepish as he flew over to the group huddled in the doorway of the guild.

"We don't mind, Happy," Gray smiled, "it was going to get out anyway with these three on the loose."

Lyon wandered over, his gaze rested on where his adoptive brother's hand was clasped in Natsu's before he glanced back up. "You're late." There was a beat of silence before his pursed lips spread into a wide grin and he clapped Gray on the shoulder. "Congrats mate, it's about time!"

Gray couldn't help the blush which had begun to creep up his neck. "We better get going huh?"

"Yeah," Lyon replied, "I'd feel guilty about snatching you away but every minute counts at this point."

"I'll see you later, okay?" Gray pressed a tender kiss on Natsu's lips, smiled warmly, then followed Lyon out of the guild hall.

Natsu was left it somewhat of a daze as Gray left the room, the door clunking shut behind him. Lucy steered him into a seat. They waited until Mira had placed a mug of hot chocolate in front of him before everyone started talking at once.

"Since when!?"

"You slept in his bed last night!"

"I can't believe it!"

"How did it happen?"

"Did you ask him?"

Natsu let the questions flow over his head as he took a long drink from the hot chocolate in front of him. I kissed Gray. He kissed me. A smile crept its way onto Natsu's lips as he remembered the feeling of Gray's soft lips on his own.

"Natsu!"

"Huh?"

"Please," Wendy gazed at him intently, "You can't just not tell us anything. That's just plain mean."

Natsu sighed, "fine..." Then with a grin, he recounted the mornings events to an audience much more enthralled than he'd expected them to be.

"I still can't believe it." Lucy repeated for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"I can't believe that you can't believe it." Erza sat back, arms crossed. "I knew this would happen from the beginning."

"I doubt it," Natsu chuckled, "but I'll let it slide." He paused, "If I'm honest though, I can't quite believe it either. Gray. It's always been, Gray, but I just didn't realise it."

"I'm sorry to break up the moment Flame Breath," Gajeel sauntered over from the bar, "but there is something I think we need to bring up with you. It can't wait."

"Oh," Natsu felt like he'd been kicked in the gut, he could hear the concern in Gajeel's tone, "sure…"

"I just think we should be wary. I have a feeling the guild who took Gray might be close, and the closer they are, the closer we are to everything going wrong."

"Don't be so down Gajeel…" Levy trailed off.

"Don't say I didn't warn you, but I did have my fair share of time in a dark guild, and I can tell something's up. Plus I don't trust that Matt guy. Call it a gut feeling."

"He's not wrong." Erza chimed in, "I got a funny feeling when Matt was here last, I just thought it was safer to let him think he still had the upper hand."

"Matt?" Natsu frowned, "You mean, Nurse Matt, Matt who looked after Gray for a year, Matt who came back to check on Gray at the guild? You've got to be kidding me."

"Think about it Natsu," Loke reasoned, "How easy would it be for those responsible for Gray's abduction to monitor him than by posing as staff at a hospital? Then all they'd have to do is follow him back to his home town and wait."

"Wait for what though?"

"For their failsafe that you told us about to play out." Lucy continued, "They don't know we worked it out, so they'll think we're still trying to recover Gray's memories. In that case they'd be thinking that E.N.D. will be dead within the next few days and are waiting to confirm it."

"Ohh, I see." Natsu frowned, "That bastard! Gray is gonna be crushed. He trusted him with so much."

"Gray will be fine, Natsu," Wendy rested a hand on Natsu's, "he's got you now."

"Do you really think this is the best time to strike?" Fae voiced the thoughts of her fellow guild mates.

"We've been planning this for days now." Matt answered with a cocky finality, "Nothing could go wrong."

"Lexer, your brother is right. Fairy Tail have had the time to try and fix Fullbuster the best they can, but if they fix him too much, make him too strong, then we won't be able to take them if our failsafe hasn't already been triggered." Kain folded his arms against his chest, "They've had enough time."

"We'll storm the guild tomorrow." Matt grinned, they won't know what hit them.

"Finally, finally I can avenge my brother." Kain growled. You take my brother from me…Fairy Tail, Zeref, Fullbuster: I'll take one of your own.

[lokiofmiddleearth]

Snowdrop Chapter 17

*pics captured by me

K.M. Mahmoud

RATED:  Rated G

GENRE: Romance, Horror, Drama

CHARACTERS: Frankenstein’s creature from Hallmark’s 2004 Frankenstein Mini-Series starring Luke Goss. Georgia Daniels OFC

SUMMARY: After coming two murders and losing his mate, the creature fathered by Frankenstein has come seeking revenge. Having shed almost all of his humanity, the creature is stunned to find that one human could redeem him and make him the person he always wanted to be. But she is plagued with secrets of her forsaken past and those secrets are catching up to her.

Notes: This chapter is dedicated to @steampunkclockwork95 Hope you like it :)

Read the other chapters here

Chapter 17

Rolling hills gave way to a dense forest and a road leading into it. Leafless tree branches reached out to each other from across the street, tangling themselves together. The light of the day was grey and cool, and far too ominous for his liking. Wind whipped at Rossignol and brought with it the subtle sounds of small animals scavenging for the last of their winter store.

As he traveled the road towards Lake Geneva, Rossignol could not suppress the choking thickness he felt in the air. Excitement, not anxiety, was what he should have felt. The rhythmic beating of his heart was slow and poignant, like a warning. Dread came over him the further he went and the closer he came to Georgia’s home.

Sir John’s estate was a mile ahead. Rossignol was exhausted and his horse was near dead from exertion, but still, he pressed on. When, at last, he was only a few yards from the estate a servant came out to greet him.

“Monsieur Rossignol! Come rest. Miss Georgia told us you were coming,” the servant informed. “There is food for you and your room is made up.” He moved to take Rossignol’s cloak, but the creature back away from him.

“Where is Georgia? Why is she not here to greet me?” Panic welled up in him. Georgia wasn’t pressed to any of the windows that faced him nor was she in the foyer beyond the open doorway of Sir John’s estate.

The servant looked to Rossignol in confusion. “Miss Georgia was called back to England. Her case was settled. They won’t be back ‘til after winter, I’m afraid. But worry not, Sir, you are welcome to remain here for the season. Sir John was quite adamant that we look after you.” Once again, the servant moved to take Rossignol’s cloak.

Georgia wasn’t here? Now he understood his feelings. Fate was twisted and cruel. The mask he wore hid the rage on his face; it would not do to frighten the servants when he still had so much to do in order to be with Georgia. Once he got her back, he was never letting her go again, lest she be lost to him forever. “When did they depart?”

He sounded pitiful. No, there was no use in hiding his heartbreak and utter disappointment. Rossignol wanted to be with Georgia. He wanted to cry and scream. Against his will, his body trembled.

“A week to the day, Sir. Come inside, Sir, it is chilly and you’ve had a difficult journey.”

Rossignol nodded and handed the reigns of his horse to the servant who looked dumbly at the horse and the reigns. The creature took his bags and passed the threshold of the house. Everything seemed so familiar and yet so foreign. Many a night he had spent stalking the building, finding paths to get close to Georgia or to escape her. It seemed different in the grey light of day. A fire roared near the entrance of the parlor where a piano stared longingly at him. His heart heaved as he imagined her fingers gliding over the keys. He missed her music. He missed her.

Rossignol stopped his ambulations near the door when he realized he had tracked in a good deal of mud. He was filthy and tired. “I will rest this night, I am leaving after. Can you have my clothes washed?” He asked one of the servants trailing behind him.

“Where are you going, Sir?” This was unexpected. Sir John told the servants to house Rossignol, that he was to be married to Miss Georgia and that he was a gentleman. Gentlemen don’t rush off when winter is coming. They wait and are waited upon unless hunting for sport. Rossignol was wild.

“To England. To Georgia. I need rest and food,” he declared before traveling up the stairs to the washroom. The servants balked at such behavior, how did he know where he was going? Several of the servants followed behind, not saying a word, but watching dumbly. “Will you prepare a hot bath for me?” He asked them without turning. One of the women dropped out of the procession to do as he asked.

This was new and thrilling. His actions were unconventional and it made the servants almost giddy to see to their chores and to spread their gossip. Rossignol stopped along his path and turned to the remaining servants trailing behind them and asked for his clothing to be delivered to Georgia’s room where he would be waiting. No one questioned how he knew where her room was. They had come to understand that this was the man who’d been sneaking in at night to visit their mistress. Nettie hadn’t helped much either in keeping it quiet.

Rossignol reached Georgia’s room and turned the small, round knob before pressing the door open. It was just as he remembered it. A subtle canopy was draped over her floral printed bed sheets. Next to her bed was a small, square nightstand and sitting atop it was a well-read copy of Sense and Sensibility. Did she read anything else? He mused. His fingers gently caressed the book before he opened the cover. Between the hardcover and the first page of the book was a pressed snowdrop, wilted and slightly discolored, but gently sheathed a wax paper. His gift to her.

He brought the withered blossom to his face and kissed it. “I will not dally too long, my love. We’ll be together again, I promise.”

A knock sounded at the door, prompting Rossignol to return the flower to its home. He was delicate with the door handle, he was in a sacred space, touching what he knew Georgia had touched. An older man stood at the door with two of Rossignol’s bags and behind the man stood a woman with his final bag. Rossignol opened the door wider and let them in.

“Claudia is still working on your bath, Sir. Gustav and Anna are fixing you something to eat. Can we get you anything else while you wait? Your mask is a bit dirty, Sir. May I clean it for you?”

Georgia accepted his appearance, and Nettie had grown to live with it, but Sir John’s initial reaction was enough for him to know it would be a long time before strangers would be able to look upon him without fear and disgust. The mask didn’t just hide his features from Georgia’s caretakers, it kept a certain mystery around him at all times, like a mantle, a shield. It was vital since his mission to obtain a communion with humanity was far from over. “I thank you, kind sir, but my masks are treasured possessions and I see to them myself. Your aid is invaluable. If you’ve nothing to see too, I would like to learn about the staff.”

Rossignol listened to every word the older servant said. Most of the servants had come from England with Georgia but many contemplated returning when they heard she was to be married. All seemed to love Georgia, and especially delighted in her music. Most of the servants from England had been with either Georgia or Sir John for many years, with the exception of Delia, who joined the staff shortly before Georgia’s father became ill and passed away.

“She never mentioned much about her father,” Rossignol stated sadly at the conclusion of the servant’s narrative. But then again, he thought, he had yet to tell her about his father.

The older man stood when Anna brought Rossignol his food and set it on the small table he had used during his nightly rendezvous with Georgia. “Well, there was the scandal, of course. Miss Georgia lost a good deal of friends and lo! One would have thought she was a criminal or a vagabond the way people looked at her! Her damnable aunt made sure she was turned away and those who didn’t turn her away were then themselves turned away. Sir John spared her by removing her. He felt he owed it to her, given that he is the reason her life was ruined.”

This confused Rossignol more. He had but an inkling of what the issue was, but was too ignorant in the ways of man to feel confident enough to ask. Instead, he nibbled on the cold roast and delighted in the tea. He held no aptitude for French wine, but English tea was made for him.

“Lord Benedict Daniels was a great man. No one even knew. . . . Not sure when he did. Not many people liked it, not that it was their business. He was a free man when it started. And Sir John loved Miss Georgia as if she were his own. Promised her father he’d look after her. But still, their indiscretion nearly ruined that girl. But my, I prattling on with a gentleman! Claudia will be in presently. Thank you, Sir. If I may, congratulations on your engagement, Miss Daniels is a fine woman!” He stood, visibly worn by having spoken so much. He left Rossignol to finish his meal and returned only to help Claudia bring the water for a bath.

Rossignol remained in the bathroom for a long while, mulling over every bit of information he recently learned. His brain, however, would not work properly, he was far too tired. When he was clean he returned to Georgia’s room and threw himself onto her bed. Her scent still lingered in the sheets and he wrapped himself in it. It was as if she were with him, protecting him with her loving embrace. He managed to fall asleep in the late afternoon, waking when his laundered clothes were brought back to him. It wasn’t until the early the next morning that he realized what his brain had kept secret from him during his bath. The realization made sense— perfect, horrifying sense. Within an hour of waking in a state of panic, he was on a horse fleeing wildly across Europe to the English channel against the advice of Sir John’s staff. Rossignol wasn’t risking his life, he was saving Georgia’s.

[kwonhozhi]

Everybody Needs A Nervy B Now And Then

or 

Bitch In A Uniform 

On the verge of turning 18, grown-up-to-be James sets his sights on the new girl at school, “gorgeous sex-god” Lily, bass player for the Stiff Dylans. Unfortunately Lily appears to already be dating James’ evil archrival: the greasy and bitter Snape. With his ridiculously named cat Sir Jeremy and his band of brothers, the Ace Gang, by his side, James sets his mad schemes in motion to nab a snogtastic girlfriend and have the best birthday party ever. 

it’s here !!!! its here despite my computer shitting itself and drawing a total blank on a title and not being able to leave it alone its HERE we MADE IT

my eternal love to @alrightevans and also @alrightpotter @prongsyouignoramus and @gxldentrio 

AO3

James Potter to Ace Gang: cnt believe u wankers fucking abandoned me

Remus Lupin: james we were RIGHT THERE

James Potter: NOT DRESSED AS HORS D’OEVRES

Sirius Black: it’s spelled hors d’oeuvres

James Potter: i think you’ll find its spelled ‘betrayal’

James Potter: why did you all bail???????????????

Peter Pettigrew: Mum wouldn’t let me go as a cocktail sausage, seeing as she’s veggo and all

Sirius Black: jam you KNO yellow washes me out idk what you were thinking trying to make me be a cheese and pineapple stick

Remus Lupin: i’ll square idk how the fuck i was supposed to be a vol-au-vent

James Potter changed the group name to Betrayal Gang.

Sirius Black changed James Potter’s nickname to olive boi.

-

Sirius Black to James Potter: u should have been at mine 2 minutes ago

Sirius Black: wher r u

James Potter: coming

James Potter: was talking to mum and dad abt my party

Sirius Black: howd it go

James Potter: :///////:

Sirius Black: double ended :/

James Potter: yeah.

-

Sirius Black to Ace Gang: just saw snape on the way to bio. god hes so wet up close

James Potter: wearer of the wettest haircut known to humanity thy name is snape

Peter Pettigrew: Omg i kno i saw it this morning like imagine turning up for the first day like that

James Potter: youd think hed have least timed his yearly bath to coincide with the start of school

Remus Lupin: you guys shouldn’t be so mean about him

Remus Lupin: im just kidding can you imagine

-

James Potter to petition for dumbledore to make a rule about school bathing regulations: lupin we all saw u go off with that bird at break

James Potter: whats the 411 lil mama

James Potter: whats the hot goss

Remus Lupin: nothing, she’s the new exchange student i was showing her around

Sirius Black: sure

James Potter: that hickey under your collar get there by itself did it

Remus Lupin: we’re not talking about this

Peter Pettigrew: Guys shut up i have English and McG is giving me the worst look

-

Sirius Black to now taking bets for how long it takes sirius to get a detention off mcgonagall: where have you and the swedish girl got to on the snogging scale???

Remus Lupin: shes danish

Remus Lupin: and what the fuck is the snogging scale

James Potter: me and siri invented it

James Potter: 1) holding hands                        2) arm around                        3) good-night kiss                        4) kiss lasting over three minutes without a breath                        5) open mouth kissing                        6) tongues                        7) upper body fondling—outdoors                        8) upper body fondling—indoors (in bed)                        9) below waist activity                      10) the full monty

Remus Lupin: why am i friends with either of you

Sirius Black: we were thirteen

James Potter: oh so suddenly now that you’re 18 you’re too COOL for the snogging scale????????

Peter Pettigrew: CAN YOU STOP HAVING IMPORTANT DISCUSSIONS WHILE IM IN CLASS WITH MCGONAGALL

Sirius Black: o i thought this was the chat without peter

Peter Pettigrew: Fuck off

-

Peter Pettigrew to Remus Lupin: You don’t really have a chat without me do you ?????

Peter Pettigrew: ??????????????????

Peter Pettigrew: Remus

-

James Potter to Ace Gang: NEW GIRL ALERT

Peter Pettigrew: Yeah, we’ve already seen her. You were there when we walked in on lupin in that EXTREMELY compromising position

Remus Lupin: if you don’t drop it im leaving the chat

James Potter: NOT HER

James Potter: ANOTHER ONE

James Potter: SHES FRIENDS WITH ALICE THE LAUGH

James Potter: SHES THE LOVE OF MY LIFE

Sirius Black: you walked in on remus doing HWAT

Remus Lupin has left the chat.

James Potter has added Remus Lupin to the chat.

James Potter: THIS IS IMPORTANT

James Potter: WE NEED A PLAN

James Potter: HOW DO I GET HER TO FALL IN LOVE WITH ME

Peter Pettigrew: Maybe say hello to her

James Potter: WHAT

Remus Lupin: pete don’t be ridiculous. james would NEVER do something that easy and straightforward

James Potter: i am having a CRISIS here

Sirius Black: please tell me what you walked in on remus doing with the danish girl

Remus Lupin has left the chat.

James Potter added Remus Lupin to the chat.

James Potter: everyone is on intel until further notice

Peter Pettigrew: Yeah okay

Remus Lupin: alright

Sirius Black changed the group name to Lupin’s Nonspecific But Indisputable Lovers’ Tryst With Eddie Redmayne.

Remus Lupin has left the chat.

-

Remus Lupin to Ace Gang and don’t you dare change it sirius black: her name’s Lily Evans

Remus Lupin: Marlene McKinnon says she just moved here from Derby

James Potter: omg remus i could kiss you

Remus Lupin: Mar also said her family’s opened an organic shop on high st

Sirius Black: how nutritious

James Potter: no one asked you

-

James Potter to Sirius Black: what categories have you come up with for the physical attractiveness test

Sirius Black: skin hair eyes nose figure mouth teeth

Sirius Black: all out of ten

James Potter: fab ill do up a table in word now and go to the library first thing at break to print us 4 copies

Sirius Black: marvy

-

James Potter to sirius no one is going to dare you to hack into the school and play gasolina over the loudspeaker at assembly on monday so stop angling for it: which of you fuckers gave me a 3 for my eyes

Sirius Black: it was purely based on their functionality

Sirius Black: you can barely see without ur glasses

Sirius Black: very poor eyes

James Potter: so it wasn’t abt how i look

Sirius Black: i didn’t say that

James Potter: sirius uve rly hurt me

James Potter: what about the 4 for my mouth

Sirius Black: that one was bc you ordered pineapple on the pizza

James Potter: i told u it was an ACCIDENT

Remus Lupin: im retrospectively docking 2 points off every single category for both of you

Peter Pettigrew: Im docking 3

-

Remus Lupin to Ace Gang: have to ditch saturday afternoon lads

Sirius Black: um why

Peter Pettigrew: Yeah whats more important than season six of the simpsons

Remus Lupin: i got a job

Sirius Black: where

Remus Lupin: Evans’ Organic Trade

James Potter: YOU GOT A JOB IN EVANS’ SHOP AND YOU DIDNT THINK TO TELL ME

Remus Lupin: im literally telling you right now dickhead

Remus Lupin: also it’s time travel

Sirius Black: it is NOT time travel it is CLEARLY an alternate universe you dithering FOOL

Peter Pettigrew: You’re both wrong its a time loop

James Potter changed the group name to donnie darko is BANNED from the group discourse.

Peter Pettigrew: Just because YOU thought it was a dream

-

Sirius Black to Friends Of James Potter Support Group: OMG

Sirius Black: PETTIGREW I CANT BELIEVE UR MISSING THIS

Peter Pettigrew: Whats happening tell meeee

Sirius Black: we just went into lupins shop

Sirius Black: evans wasn’t even here

Sirius Black: she just came out with a cup of tea for lupin and james ACTUALLY screamed,,,,,,,,,,,, evans almost dropped the mug

Sirius Black: lupin just introduced us and shes given him this look like “they better not be loitering” so hes selling me onions so she doesn’t kick us out

Sirius Black: lupin i dont want these and i shant pay for them

Sirius Black: evans is trying to talk to prongs but hes just giving her heart eyes

Sirius Black: she just asked if hes in her french class and he SQUEAKED

Sirius Black: day 13. james has still not spoken a word of english to evans

Sirius Black: day 27. hes said “mfngggg” instead of yes the stupid git

Peter Pettigrew: Fucking hell im still in this stupid mother son bonding thing for another half hour

Sirius Black: MOTHER SON BONDING

Sirius Black: siri set a reminder to mock peter later

Sirius Black: lupin just took the tea and evans has revealed shes in a BAND

Sirius Black: prongs has found his voice (!) and hes making the aziz ansari :D face which, unfortunately, makes him look like a total prat

Peter Pettigrew: Rookie error

Sirius Black: she just told him they’re called the stiff dylans and he just nodded really seriously and said “great name” im going to knock him out if only to stop him embarrassing himself further the stupid git

Sirius Black: fun facts about lily evans: she plays bass and she thinks james has brain damage probably

Sirius Black: JAMES JUST INADVERTENTLY TOLD HER SHE HAS REALLY BIG HANDS AND SHE WAS DEADASS LIKE

Sirius Black: “……………………okay”

Peter Pettigrew: BIG HANDS

Sirius Black: HER CAT just came out and prongs has jumped on the opportunity my boy he did it he managed to steer his way onto a topic he knows something about

Sirius Black: more fun facts about lily evans: her cat is called elizabeth bennet and she thinks james has brain damage definitely

Sirius Black: evans laughed at “we just call him sir jeremy but his real name is sir jeremy cattington the third, prince of purrsia and king under the meowntain” thank god

Sirius Black: he told her about how he used to take sir jeremy on walks by the beach but he ate his collar and his lead why is he like this

Sirius Black: prongs my man you sound like an eharmony profile gone wrong

Sirius Black: she mentioned hr sister,,,,,,,,,,,petunia

Sirius Black: the evans parents had a thing for matching names me and evans have so much in common

Sirius Black: FLEAMONT JUST WALKED IN PETE I CANT BELIEVE U ARENT HERE I SWEAR TO GOD YOU COULD NOT WRITE THIS

Peter Pettigrew: Noooo omg

Sirius Black: monty: “james????? what are you doing here? you hate vegetbles”

Sirius Black: james: “haha dad you’re so funny but of course i LOVE vegetables as we all know”

Sirius Black: monty: “james. the last time your mother tried to serve you broccoli you threatened to run away from home”

Sirius Black: james: “haha i was a picky kid, wasn’t i”

Sirius Black: monty deadass just looked right at evans and said “james that was wednesday” that man is my Hero

Sirius Black: lupin literally ducked behind the counter so prongs couldn’t see him laughing the lucky git prongs is glaring daggers at me

Sirius Black: evans is giving him the WORST pitying look omg poor jam he looks like he did when chelsea lost the final last year

Sirius Black: evans is gone holy shit i cant believe u missed this pete

Peter Pettigrew: :(

-

James Potter to Sirius Black: how am i ever going to be able to face her again ??????

James Potter: i love my dad but he can be so beyond the valley of the thick sometimes

Sirius Black: he wasnt that bad

Sirius Black: i dont think evans even took any notice

James Potter: are u SURE my dad hasnt ruined it ????

Sirius Black: j

Sirius Black: it was reaaaally fab

James Potter: fabbity fab?

Sirius Black: with knobs on.

Sirius Black: besides im sure evans will understand

Sirius Black: all parents say stupid things sometimes

Sirius Black: shell probably like u more bc shell feel bad uve got a dad who’s BEYOND bonkerdom

James Potter: you’re right

Sirius Black: i kno :~)

James Potter: i love you but don’t ever send me that face again

-

Peter Pettigrew to James Potter: I can’t believe you told evans she has big hands

James Potter: you werent even THERE

-

Remus Lupin to Ace Gang :~): anyone seen black

James Potter: hes in detention

Remus Lupin: what for this time

James Potter: handing out onions at assembly

Peter Pettigrew: The onions from sunday??

Sirius Black: no peter, a completely different set of onions

Peter Pettigrew changed the group name to Sirius stop being mean to me.

-

James Potter to everyone be meaner than usual to peter: what the fuck is evans doing with snivellus

Sirius Black: wot

Peter Pettigrew: We just walked past them and it looked Really Bad

Peter Pettigrew: She was holding his hand

James Potter: what the FUCK has he got going on that i dont

James Potter: this is fucking ridiculous. snape. who the fuck does he think he is

Remus Lupin: ill see what i can find out at work on monday

-

James Potter to Peter Pettigrew: is it weird to like evans’ band on fb if we’re not friends

Peter Pettigrew: Just fucking add her dude

-

Sirius Black to James Potter: look ive been doing some thinking and if u rly want 2 impress evans ur gonna have 2 up ur snogging game

James Potter: what the fuck

Sirius Black: dont argue im the best judge of this

Sirius Black: ur like. ok at kissing but i feel like u could b better

Sirius Black: there’s a kid on andy’s block who does snogging lessons after school his name is frank and hes a 7 maybe 7 and a half if u don’t wear ur glasses

James Potter: what is wrong with u

Sirius Black: u say that like ur not gonna look into it

James Potter: fuck off

-

Peter Pettigrew to the queen does NOT wear a 44DD: Hes just gone in

Peter Pettigrew: Cant believe neither of you came you missed OUT

Remus Lupin: what happened

Peter Pettigrew: He knocked on the door and this bloke came out and like. Objectively and all but he is Fit™

Peter Pettigrew: And he looked prongs up and down and was like

Peter Pettigrew: "I dont usually do boys but christ if you dont look like the saddest git ive ever seen"

Peter Pettigrew: I gave him a thumbs up on the way in

Remus Lupin: cant believe i missed it

Sirius Black: how did u get the tm thing like that

Peter Pettigrew: Copy it and save it as a keyboard shortcut

Sirius Black: ™™™™™™™™™™™™™™™

Peter Pettigrew: Stop

Sirius Black: no™

Remus Lupin: what have you done

-

Sirius Black to James Potter: so its like THAT is it ??????????? my kissing not good enough for you ?????????

James Potter: babe

James Potter: ur my first kiss ull always hold a special spot in my heart

Sirius Black: i need time

James Potter: YOU’RE THE ONE WHO TOLD ME ABOUT LONGBOTTOM IN THE FIRST PLACE YOU TWIT

-

James Potter, Snogging Sensation to i, sirius black, am giving james potter the cold shoulder: he put on careless whisper

Sirius Black: WHAT

Sirius Black changed to group name to i, sirius black, am now only giving james potter the lukewarm shoulder.

James Potter, Snogging Sensation: and hes from saliva CITY hes got nothing on u babe i promise

Sirius Black changed the group name to in light of new information, james potter and i, sirius black, have reconciled.

Remus Lupin changed the group name to Ace Gang.

Sirius Black: buzzkill

-

James Potter to gasolina is a Bad Song: mum’s got a promotion???????

Remus Lupin: tell her congrats

James Potter: it’s back in india though??????????????

Remus Lupin: oh

Sirius Black: you’re not moving are you

James Potter: i honestly don’t know

James Potter: im freaking out

James Potter: come round please

Peter Pettigrew: Holy shit

Peter Pettigrew: Ill pick everyone up

James Potter: they’re ruining my life and they still won’t let me have a party

-

James Potter to Rip in pieces james’ life in england: i have a plan

Remus Lupin: here we go

James Potter changed the group name to don’t message me in that tone of voice lupin.

Sirius Black: whats the plan

James Potter: evans likes cats. i like cats. i have a cat. and if that cat got lost i would be distraught. and if evans knew how upset i was shed help me find him.

Sirius Black: but sir jeremy isnt lost

James Potter: evans doesnt know that OBVIOUSLY

James Potter: honestly sirius sometimes i think youre half boy half turnip

Remus Lupin: jesus christ

James Potter changed the group name to im warning you lupin.

James Potter: i “””lose””” sir jeremy but you lot have him at the park then when u see us coming u let him loose and evans will chase him down and shell feel like a hero and shell get so caught up in the euphoria of the moment that shell kiss me and realise that we’re perfect for each other

Remus Lupin: ur insane

James Potter removed Remus Lupin from the chat.

Peter Pettigrew: You GUYS you KNOW im in english right now

Sirius Black: ffs peter just turn your phone on do not disturb when ur in mcg’s class

Peter Pettigrew: But i always forget to turn it back

-

James Potter to Sirius Black: i went round her shop but she said she was too busy helping her mum

Sirius Black: rip™

-

Lily Evans has sent you a friend request. Accept / Decline

-

Lily Evans to James Potter: begged off work. kno id be devo if i lost lizzy. wher r u?

James Potter: the beach

Lily Evans: be there asap x

-

James Potter to Sirius Black: plans back on

Sirius Black: oh okay

Sirius Black: small prob™ sir jeremy actually got loose

James Potter: she ended her message with an x

James Potter: does this mean she likes me

James Potter: wait WHAT

-

James Potter to Lily Evans: thanks so much for your help on sunday

Lily Evans: it was my pleasure. even if your cat IS mental.

James Potter: im telling him you said that

Lily Evans: noooooooooo

James Potter: so

Lily Evans: ominous.

James Potter: are you glad you moved to eastbourne?

Lily Evans: i guess. it's pretty chill

Lily Evans: have u always lived here?

James Potter: yeah

James Potter: its called gods waiting room

James Potter: because people come here to die

Lily Evans: ur being dramatic.

Lily Evans: i heard eastbournes the new brighton.

James Potter: yeah

James Potter: as if

Lily Evans: idk i like it here. its more peaceful than derby and the beach is soo good for ~song writing inspo~

James Potter: what do you write ur songs abt ?

Lily Evans: idk. life

Lily Evans: the universe

Lily Evans: how reality tv’s brainwashing us

James Potter: wow

Lily Evans: ikr

James Potter: careful, you’re starting to sound like my dad

Lily Evans: i dont mind so much, your dad’s pretty cool.

James Potter: ????

Lily Evans: he comes into the shop a lot.

James Potter: oh my god

James Potter: promise you wont take anything he says about me seriously

Lily Evans: no problem aha

James Potter: what about your dad? does he work in the shop too?

Lily Evans: no, he’s :/

Lily Evans: he died.

James Potter: oh. im so sorry, lily.

Lily Evans: its okay. its why my mum moved us out here and opened up the shop.

Lily Evans: she always wanted one

Lily Evans: eastbourne is such a step back from derby and i like it because it means me and petunia can keep an eye on her you know?

James Potter: i think i understand why you like it here

-

James Potter to evans showed prongs her O face: mum and dad are fighting about india again

Remus Lupin: fuck

Sirius Black: ):

Peter Pettigrew: )):

Sirius Black: stop trying to one up me, pettigrew

-

Frank Longbottom has sent you a friend request. Accept / Decline

-

James Potter to longbottom has the hots for prongs: mum’s just left

James Potter: so thats that then

Peter Pettigrew: Drinks at mine?

James Potter: yeah

-

James Potter to Remus Lupin: will you mention how shit snape is and how good i am when ur on shift with evans today

Remus Lupin: no you sad git i will not

James Potter: remus i LOVE her

James Potter: ill buy you a twix from the vending machine

Remus Lupin: alright

-

Sirius Black changed the group name to twix are grim.

Remus Lupin changed the group name to twix are grim but not as grim as curly wurlys.

Sirius Black: you’ve really hurt me, lupin

Remus Lupin: good.

-

James Potter to Remus Lupin: ???????????

James Potter: ur off shift now did you talk abt me ???????

Remus Lupin: no

Remus Lupin: and i already ate the twix so dont ask for it back

-

Peter Pettigrew to evans thinks snape is a clingy sod #confirmed: Watch out prongs

James Potter: for what

Remus Lupin: for that, i assume

Sirius Black: im in lunch detention what happened

Remus Lupin: longbottom’s making a come on at james

Sirius Black: McYikes

Remus Lupin: “why havent you accepted my friend request?” – longbottom

Remus Lupin: “because were not friends” – james

Sirius Black: james ur gonna get urself decked one day

Sirius Black: so can u stop being a little shit when im not around to watch thanks

James Potter: no promises

-

Remus Lupin to twin peaks season 3 fan theories club: sirius can you link me to that compilation video of diego luna saying he wants to touch jabba the hut

Remus Lupin: i want to show it to lily at work this afternoon

Sirius Black: ya sure

Sirius Black: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGKrc3A6HHM

Remus Lupin: if i follow that link and it isnt to the video i asked for im not going to be your partner for the history assignment

Sirius Black: ………………..

Sirius Black: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDU3PojzaHk

Remus Lupin: thank you

Peter Pettigrew changed the group name to Gasolina is banned from the group playlist.

-

James Potter to Gasolina (INCLUDING all derivative remixes reimaginings and covers) is banned from the group playlist: EVANS LIKES STAR WARS

James Potter: ???!?!?!?!??!!!!!??!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?

Remus Lupin: james that was three hours ago get with the times

James Potter: but i was at P R A C T I C E

Sirius Black: too bad so sad

-

Remus Lupin to Peter Pettigrew: WHOA

Peter Pettigrew: U watching from chem window?????

Remus Lupin: ya what just happened??????????????????

Peter Pettigrew: Snape tripped up james on the way to goal

Remus Lupin: is he ok??????

Peter Pettigrew: Hes got a bloody nose but hes okay

Remus Lupin: i meant snape

Peter Pettigrew: O na

Peter Pettigrew: I think james is gonna murder him lol

-

Sirius Black to marauding fools quote unquote minnie mcgonagall: mary mcdonald in the year below is having a party tomorrow night n i charmed her into giving us all invites

Sirius Black: well, she invited ME and i guess u lads can come as my collective date

Remus Lupin: im already invited

James Potter: me too

Peter Pettigrew: She invited me three weeks ago

Sirius Black: i got invited after PETTIGREW ????????? who the fuck

Sirius Black: Im Not Going™

Remus Lupin: yes u are

Peter Pettigrew: Yes u are

James Potter: yes u are

Sirius Black: Yes I Am™

-

Peter Pettigrew to Ace Gang: Why did you tell her i lost a SOCK ??????

Remus Lupin changed the group name to kickstarter to find peter’s missing third sock.

James Potter: i had to say SOMETHING

Remus Lupin: james, ever ridiculous under pressure

James Potter: besides, YOU’RE the one who pushed us behind a bush as if she would have thought it was weird that we at SCHOOL

Peter Pettigrew: I panicked

Peter Pettigrew: Lily said she thought snape tripping you was a dick move though  

James Potter: trying to distract me by mentioning evans, huh???

Peter Pettigrew: Is it working

James Potter: i wish i could say no

Remus Lupin: id like to point out lily also said you should go up for the school team

Remus Lupin: so she clearly doesn’t care enough about you to know that you’re already. captain

Sirius Black: lupin stop being a flaky bitch

Sirius Black: thats my job

-

Peter Pettigrew to pres at james’ because its closest to mary’s NOT because its in any way a superior house to any other house accessible 2 the group: Did i just hear ur dad call u a minger

James Potter: if u have 2 ask u already kno the answer

Sirius Black: In Fleamont We Trust™

-

Sirius Black to party boiis: PRONGS IS THAT YOU OUTSIDE WITH FRANK LONGBOTTOM

James Potter: he fucking ambushed me

James Potter: evans didn’t see did she ?????????????????????????

Peter Pettigrew: Nah dont think so

Sirius Black: hes lying she absolutely did

James Potter: fuck this im going home

-

Remus Lupin to Sirius Black: i swear to god if you’re the one who just put on gasolina im blocking you

Sirius Black: (:

Remus Lupin: we arent friends

-

Remus Lupin to James Potter: me and lily are going to the pool this afternoon

Remus Lupin: 2:30pm

Remus Lupin: in case you wanted to coincidentally turn up

James Potter: what so i can aggravate her by drowning snape?

Remus Lupin: snape isnt coming

James Potter: oh. why not?

Remus Lupin: probably afraid of water

James Potter: explains why he never washes

Remus Lupin: lmao

-

James Potter to Sirius Black: me and moony are going to the pool and you’re coming

Sirius Black: as in the public pool????????

James Potter: obvi

Sirius Black: excusez-moi, c’est très grotesque

Sirius Black: im NOT going to the public pool little kids pee in that and the chlorine makes my hair go all frizzy

James Potter: i cant believe you’re abandoning me, your best friend, in his time of greatest need

Sirius Black: and you say IM dramatic

-

Remus Lupin to Ace Gang: what happened after we left yesterday???????

James Potter: idk it was weird

James Potter: we did handstands and she made fun of my pale legs ): then she tried to drown me but in like a ~playful~ way

James Potter: and i told her im not with frank longbottom in any capacity and she said “well that’s good then”

James Potter: and then she kissed me

Sirius Black: SHE KISSED YOU

Sirius Black changed the group name to EVANS KISSED JAMES EVANS KISSED JAMES EVANS KISSED JAMES EVANS ! KISSED ! JAMES !.

Remus Lupin: get in !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Peter Pettigrew: Result omg

James Potter: but then she said she had to go sort some stuff out and that she’d text me

Remus Lupin: oh, james

-

James Potter to Sirius Black: evans should text soon then that’s sorted and we should step up the party plans

James Potter: we’ve got so much left to sort

James Potter: venue, fashion statements, colour scheme

Sirius Black: you should do black and white

James Potter: ! marvy

-

James Potter to Remus Lupin: what does it mean when a girl kisses you and says she’ll text you does it mean she’ll /text you or does it mean she’ll message you on facebook

James Potter: because there’s a big difference

James Potter: remus ???????????????????????????

Remus Lupin: james its 4 in the morning

James Potter: so???????? ur awake arent u ???????????????? what does it mean ??????

James Potter: remus uve kissed the most girls u have to know

James Potter: remus

James Potter: remus please

-

Frank Longbottom has sent you a friend request. Accept / Decline

-

James Potter to Sirius Black: i need a drink

Sirius Black: what happened????

Sirius Black: im omw btw

James Potter: mum called and she wants me and dad to move out to india with her

James Potter: dad doesnt want to go but he also doesnt want to be away from mum any more im freaking out siri i might actually move back to india what the fuck

James Potter: and on top of that longbottom showed up at my house and tried to apologise how did he even get my address

Sirius Black: im here come open the door

-

Alice theLaugh to James Potter: is it tru that ur gay?

James Potter: idk i dont reckon

Alice theLaugh: didnt think u were, lily said u werent

James Potter: really? what did she say ???????????

Alice theLaugh: just that she knows 4 sure u arent

Alice theLaugh: are u going to the stiff dylans gig saturday?

James Potter: not sure yet

-

James Potter to Sirius Black: she kissed me and then left me on read at 3:45

Sirius Black: aw :/

James Potter: shut the fuck up

James Potter: she didn’t even tell me abt her gig in brighton

-

James Potter to james’ wet dream about evans: sirius i cannot believe you told my father about lily evans

Sirius Black: thats not fair

Sirius Black: u kno monty has an uncanny ability to get info out of me

Sirius Black changed James Potter’s nickname to the naff boy who had the sad party that no one went to.

the naff boy who had the sad party that no one went to: stop taking advantage of my vulnerability !

-

Remus Lupin to Everyone sign up for hindi on duolingo out of solidarity to james: watch out lads james has his plan face on

Remus Lupin: brace for impact

Peter Pettigrew: Oh geez

James Potter: fuck off then lupin i wont tell u then

James Potter removed Remus Lupin from the chat.

James Potter: now that we’re alone

James Potter: im gonna make evans jealous

Peter Pettigrew: Im afraid to ask how

James Potter: im going with alice the laugh to the stiff dylans gig

Sirius Black: christ james that’s pretty shitty

Sirius Black: that was lupin

Sirius Black: i say first, what could possibly go wrong

Sirius Black: second, what the fuck is alice the laugh’s real last name

Sirius Black: ive known her for 6 years and i dont know what it is

-

Peter Pettigrew to Friends Of James Potter Support Group: Say aye if ur completely unsurprised to learn i just overheard james respond to alice the laugh telling him he looks good tonight with “thanks, you’re very honest”

Sirius Black: aye

Remus Lupin: aye

Peter Pettigrew: “Alice you make me laugh like a loon on loon tablets”

Sirius Black: #yikes

Sirius Black: i have the shot

Remus Lupin: take it

-

Alice theLaugh to James Potter: i had a great time tonight

James Potter: haha me too

Alice theLaugh: best night of my life x

James Potter: o.k. see you at school on monday

-

Lily Evans to Sirius Black: so ur the one who put on gasolina at mary mcdonald’s party.

Sirius Black: what makes u say that ?

Lily Evans: you shouted “play gasolina” no less than 11 times last night.

Sirius Black: that doesnt sound like me

Sirius Black: are u sure it wasnt lupin ?

Sirius Black: that worldly bastard he sure does love puerto rican music

Lily Evans: i just texted him and he said “im surprised sirius even knows what puerto rico is”.

Sirius Black: fucker

-

Sirius Black to James Potter: oi cheer up

Sirius Black: what are you thinking about?

James Potter: poor alice

James Potter: i keep seeing her face when she tried to kiss me

James Potter: god i feel like such an arse for leading her on

-

James Potter to Alice theLaugh: you okay? you looked pretty upset in maths

Alice theLaugh: hope your plan worked

James Potter: what?

Alice theLaugh: marlene mckinnon overheard black telling lupin that you only went out with me to make lily jealous

Alice theLaugh: you’re a heartless user

Alice theLaugh: what you did, that’s just pants, that is

James Potter: i’m really sorry, alice

Alice theLaugh: i really thought you thought i was a laugh

-

Sirius Black to James Potter: i told you im sorry

Sirius Black: are you really going to ignore me over this

Sirius Black: like for real james pull your head out of your arse for twenty seconds and realise how shitty you’re being

Sirius Black: all your scheming and pretending

Sirius Black: honestly it’s no wonder evans never fucking texted you

James Potter: don’t talk to me again.

-

Lily Evans to James Potter: you’ve really pissed off a lot of people.

Lily Evans: alice is really cut up. she’s my mate, james.

James Potter: i didnt mean to use her.

James Potter: you never texted me when you said you would

Lily Evans: i handled it really badly, i know

Lily Evans: things got messy

Lily Evans: i didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.

James Potter: so you were thinking of breaking up with snape and then you were gonna text me?

Lily Evans: lmao what

Lily Evans: severus and i aren��t together.

James Potter: but you hold his hand

Lily Evans: i hold marlene’s had too but that doesnt mean im dating her.

Lily Evans: you know how much he hates you and it makes it hard, james, but yeah, i was gonna text you.

Lily Evans: and then i saw you with alice at my gig and i was gutted.

Lily Evans: but that’s different now.

Lily Evans: i thought YOU were different than that james but you’re not, you’re just some fuck off rich kid who only thinks about himself.

Lily Evans: i think it’s probably best if you don’t message me again.

-

James Potter to Remus Lupin: had a talk with lily. turns out shes not actually with snape.

Remus Lupin: i actually do not care, james. work things out with sirius or fuck off.

-

James Potter to Peter Pettigrew: i think i might have just gotten my mum fired

Peter Pettigrew: Go on, i guess

James Potter: i went to her office and talked to her boss and i think i just made things worse

Peter Pettigrew: Yeah, you’re getting pretty good at that

James Potter: i guess i am, yeah.

James Potter: im cancelling the party and ive told dad i want to move to india

James Potter: if either of the others ask

Peter Pettigrew: I’ll pass it on.

-

James Potter to Lily Evans: hi.

James Potter: i know you didn’t want me to message you again and i don’t blame you for that but i have to say this and then it’s done.

James Potter: what you said really hurt, but you were right. it wasnt me. it was beyond pants, and i really am sorry. i messed everything up with you, and with alice and with sirius and i guess i just got caught up in my own idea of how our lives should be and i got carried away

Lily Evans: i cut all ties with severus last night.

James Potter: oh.

Lily Evans: yeah.

Lily Evans: you know, i wrote a song about you.

James Potter: really?

Lily Evans: its called Bitch In A Uniform.

Lily Evans: i wrote it when i was pissed off with you.

Lily Evans: but i still like you, james. even though you’re mental.

James Potter: no you don’t

Lily Evans: i do.

Lily Evans: i cant stop thinking about you. i was hoping

Lily Evans: maybe

Lily Evans: we can go out?

James Potter: oh, fuck

Lily Evans: ?

James Potter: im moving to india

Lily Evans: what the fuck is wrong with you

Lily Evans: you’re so

Lily Evans: random

James Potter: 100% legit this time.

Lily Evans: that’s a goddamn shame.

Lily Evans: im at the beach if you wanted to come hang out.

-

James Potter to Sirius Black: feels really shitty without you

James Potter: im so so sorry

James Potter: can you ever forgive me?

Sirius Black: ur gonna have to buy me at least 16 curly wurlys

James Potter: its done.

Sirius Black: happy birthday you massive tosser xxx

-

joe to the jonas brothers: operation stun-the-pants-off-james-with-an-amazing-surprise-party is a go

joe changed the group name to Friends Of James Potter Support Group.

nick: oh thank GOD

kevin: I was wondering how long you’d hold out

nick: you’re both so stupid

-

James Potter to prongs is finally legal ;): cant believe all you wankers are busy tonight

James Potter: like i know we were all in a fight but you ALL have plans ????????

James Potter: dad’s taken pity on me and is taking me to a club this is the saddest 18th ever

Remus Lupin: sry fam

Peter Pettigrew: Lol

-

JAMES POTTER’S SUPER SECRET 18TH BIRTHDAY PARTY Private º Hosted by Sirius Black and 2 others.

312 going º 167 maybe 27 March 19:30 – 28 March 8:00

Details james is a prat but hes our best friend so lets all get together and show him that being legal to drink doesnt take away the fun of it !! event will have an open bar courtesy of mr & mrs p

theme is black and white !

only one rule : DONT TELL JAMES ABOUT IT anyone who does will be blacklisted from the party loool good luck telling your grandkids about how you didn’t get to come to the most important party of our generation

-

Peter Pettigrew to Fleamont Potter: The eagle has landed i repeat the eagle has landed

Fleamont Potter: Thanks son :~) Jem’s going to be so excited to see his mum.

Fleamont Potter: We’re up on the balcony by the bar, send her our way :~)

Peter Pettigrew: Will do, sarge

-

Lily Evans: happy birthday xxx hope you like ur present.

James Potter: my present?

James Potter: OH MY GOD

James Potter: YOU WROTE ME A SONG ?!?!?!

James Potter: lily evans i honestly think i love you

-

Marlene McKinnon to Remus Lupin: we can’t hear properly from up the back what did snape just say

Remus Lupin: “james potter is a girl-nabbing letch who can’t keep his slutty minx hands off other peoples’ girlfriends”

Marlene McKinnon: WHAT

Remus Lupin: “you’re just a big fat minging minger with horridious eyesight and the opposite of a haircut”

Remus Lupin: don’t worry, black’s filming the whole thing im sure it’ll be on youtube asap

-

Sirius Black to Ace Gang except all of us are legal™ now: id be lying if i said i remembered anything past monty and effy swing dancing

Remus Lupin: im fairly certain i walked in on frank longbottom and alice the laugh fucking in the mens

Remus Lupin: but i, too, am fuzzy on the details

Peter Pettigrew: I woke up at the lido. No idea how i got there

Remus Lupin: i just found this in my camera roll

Remus Lupin set a photo.

Peter Pettigrew: What the fuck

Remus Lupin: i have no memory of taking this and im glad of that fact because the camerawork here is shameful

James Potter: YOU’RE KIDDING

James Potter: YOU DON’T REMEMBER PETER FINDING A RAT IN THE BINS BEHIND THE CRICKET CLUB

James Potter: AND NAMING IT INIGO MONTOYA

James Potter: PETER YOU STILL HAD IT WHEN I LEFT YOU FOUR HOURS LATER

Peter Pettigrew: I mean that definitely sounds like me

James Potter changed Peter Pettigrew’s nickname to cryptid: ratboii.

cryptid: ratboii: Cheers

cryptid: ratboii: Where did you get to, anyway?

James Potter: me and evans went to the beach

Remus Lupin: cuuuuuute

Sirius Black: and you didnt invite ME

James Potter: sirius you were passed out by 11 o clock

Sirius Black: WHAT

James Potter: yeah, evans poured you a quadruple shot of jager after you played gasolina through your iphone six times in a row

Sirius Black: you convinced me to drink JAGER??????????!?!?!?!??!!!!?!?!??!?!?!??!?!?

James Potter: i told you it was sambuca black and somehow that was okay with you

Sirius Black: wtf™

-

James Potter added a life event. DIDN’T move to India 56 likes

James Potter commented: love reacts only pls

Peter Pettigrew commented: A N G E R Y R E A C T

James Potter replied to Peter Pettigrew’s comment: ???????

-

Peter Pettigrew to James Potter: I did duolingo every day even though ur not actually moving and im not gonna let it go to waste

Peter Pettigrew: बकरी मेरी प्रेमिका है

James Potter: peter you know i. cant read hindi i can only speak it right

Peter Pettigrew: ):

James Potter: i showed mum and she laughed and said it was cute

Peter Pettigrew: (:

-

Sirius Black shared a video to James Potter’s timeline: “Stiff Dylans performance interrupted by GREASY RACIST exclusive”

Lily Evans commented: tag urself im the girlfriend

Remus Lupin commented: im peter in the background trying to get out of the shot but sirius keeps moving so hes still in frame

Sirius Black commented: im prongs’s slutty minx hands

James Potter commented: im the look on snapes face when lily kisses me

Peter Pettigrew commented: Im james drawing attention to the fact he conned lily into kissing him because he thinks weve all somehow missed him telling us every two seconds for the last three days

-

James Potter is in a relationship with Lily Evans. 346 likes

Peter Pettigrew commented: Love react

Sirius Black commented: jealous react

Remus Lupin commented: L O V E R E A C T

[mikauzoran]

Adrienette: Serendipity: Fifty Marichat and Adrienette Kisses: Kiss Sixteen

Read it on AO3: Serendipity: Fifty Marichat and Adrienette Kisses: ...as an apology.

The next day was a Saturday, and Adrien figured it was as good a time as any to face his girlfriend’s wrath.

He took a deep breath and knocked on Marinette’s skylight.

The steady grumble of her sewing machine stopped, and she called up to him, “Just a minute, Minou!”

Adrien winced, mentally preparing himself for her disappointment.

She poked her head up, saw Adrien, and the bright smile dropped clean off her face to be replaced by a frown.

He smiled nervously, giving her a little finger wave. “Surprise?”

“Adrien…” She blinked, looking around in confusion. “How did you get up here?”

“Well…I mean…you’ve seen the rock-climbing wall in my room. I probably could have scaled the building on my own, but…Chat Noir dropped me off,” he fibbed slightly, rubbing at the back of his neck.

The furrows in her brow deepened. “Why didn’t you just use the door?”

His nervous smile twisted into a grimace. “I was kind of concerned about you slamming the door in my face and banked on you being less likely to leave me stranded on your balcony,” he confessed. “I didn’t think you’d be too happy to see me.”

“Oh,” she breathed, her face returning to a careful neutral.

He bit his lip and observed, “You don’t seem very happy to see me.”

She closed her eyes and took a slow inhale. Letting it out, she opened them. “Why don’t we have this conversation down in the living room? Come on in.”

She disappeared back into her room, and he obediently followed her to the living area of the Dupain-Cheng apartment.

On the way, he saw that she was already working on a dress with the pink taffeta he had brought her as Chat Noir the night before.

Once in the living room, Marinette sank onto the couch where it bent into an L shape, and Adrien took a seat about a meter away, closer to the kitchen.

He could smell the hummingbird cake pops she’d mentioned the previous night cooling. She must have made them first thing that morning. That boded well, giving him a bit of hope that she would forgive Adrien and that things would be all right between them again.

“…So,” he ventured. “Chat Noir came to see me last night on the way home from your place.”

She nodded, acknowledging his words but still trying to process her own thoughts.

“…I’m guessing you’re mad at me?” he prompted when she didn’t say anything.

She grabbed one of the throw pillows, hugging it to her chest and playing with the trim. “It’s complicated. I’m feeling a lot of things right now. I mean, yes, I am ticked at you, but it’s more than that.… There’s a lot to unpack.”

“Okay.” He nodded, accepting the situation for what it was. “So…can we talk this out? If we need to fight and scream at each other, let’s do it and get it out of our systems so we can make up and move on.”

Marinette’s response was to sock him with the throw pillow. “I can’t believe you told him!” she snapped.

“Ohime-sama, I had to,” Adrien protested, putting his hands up to defend himself against her pillow onslaught.

“No, you didn’t,” she retorted.

“I really did,” he insisted. “We couldn’t keep going like we were.”

“What if he’d gotten akumatized?” she demanded, glaring him down.

“He wasn’t going to get akumatized,” he calmly reasoned.

She shook her head, loose hair whipping back and forth around her shoulders. “You couldn’t have known that.”

“I was absolutely positive,” Adrien assured, wishing he could just tell her the truth. “I know him really well, Marinette.”

She pressed her lips together hard as she studied his face. “…You weren’t trying to get him to break up with me…were you?” she asked hesitantly, sounding unsure. “I didn’t think you were. That didn’t feel like something you’d do, but…the thought crossed my mind.”

He shook his head, slowly reaching out to cup her cheek, giving her time to pull away if she didn’t want him touching her.

She stood her ground, even going so far as to lean into his hand.

“No, Ohime-sama,” he assured tenderly. “This wasn’t about me or Chat Noir. This was about you. I was scared out of my mind about what this thing between us was doing to you mentally. The other week…”

He flinched as memories of how terrified he’d been came flooding back, memories of Marinette’s stricken expression, of the things she’d said about how alone and overwhelmed she felt. He shook his head again, trying to clear his mind.

“…I was really scared, Marinette,” he reiterated in a whisper. “Just thinking about the long-term damage that kind of mental strain could do to you…knowing it was all my fault…I couldn’t do it anymore.”

“Oh, My Beau Gosse,” she breathed, dropping the pillow and scooting closer to pull him into her arms. “I’m sorry,” she stressed into his hair, giving it a comforting nuzzle. “I’m so sorry, Adrien. It’s not your fault. My mental issues…you’re just a small part of it. If I ever have a breakdown, it’s not going to be your fault, so please don’t blame yourself for my mental state.”

“Sorry,” he muttered. “…My…my mom…used to have meltdowns sometimes.”

Marinette inhaled sharply and held her breath, too scared to reply, afraid of responding wrong to this delicate show of confidence in her.

Tentatively, Adrien continued. “The other week…you kind of reminded me of that, so…I’m just kind of sensitive about it. There was nothing I could do for my mom, and I felt so powerless,” he sniffled. “I don’t want anything like that to happen to you.”

“It won’t,” she swore, his words galvanizing her into answering.

She didn’t know how she was going to keep that promise as she squeezed him tighter, but she did know that she’d find a way. If Adrien needed her to keep it together, she’d do it.

They sat there like that a while before Adrien spoke up again. “Sorry for going to pieces on you,” he chuckled self-deprecatingly with a bit of a sniffle on the end.

“It’s okay,” she assured, stroking his hair lovingly.

He sighed. “Sometimes my mother’s meltdowns were my fault.”

She pulled back to stare at him. “Adrien…no. I’m sure that’s not—”

“—I upset her sometimes,” he explained. “I’d upset her, and she’d have one of her episodes, and my father would say, ‘Look what you’ve done’. It was my fault. Maybe not entirely my fault, but I was the last straw that pushed her over the edge, so…I don’t want to be your last straw, Marinette,” he stressed pitifully, looking at her with pleading, damp eyes.

“Adrien,” she breathed, pulling him back in. “Your father is awful. Who the hell says that to a kid?”

“He was just telling the truth,” Adrien insisted.

“No,” she responded firmly. “No, he wasn’t. Maybe he was just upset because of your mother, but it was wrong for him to take that out on you. Your mother’s mental illness wasn’t your fault, Adrien.”

He didn’t reply for a while, just soaked up the warmth of her embrace and the gentleness of her caresses.

When he did break the silence again, he did so hesitantly. “Both of my parents were anti-therapy,” he broached the subject cautiously. “I feel like I could really use a therapist, but that’s not going to be an option until I’m out on my own…. How do you feel about therapy?”

“I think it’s a good idea,” she answered without hesitation. “If you want to talk to someone, Adrien, I support you completely.”

He chuckled softly, shaking his head. “I mean…thanks. That’s good to know, but…I meant…how do you feel about you in therapy?”

Her reply was slower this time. “…I…I mean, I’m not opposed. I just…don’t feel like it would help. My problems aren’t something someone else can help with.”

He shook his head patiently. “Maybe not, but you could talk about how you’re feeling in general without necessarily talking about the problem specifically. Maybe the therapist could help with stress management techniques.”

“You want me to see a therapist,” she intuited.

“You don’t have to,” he was quick to assure.

She pursed her lips. “But you want me to.”

He gave her another pleading look with his big, tearful green eyes. “I love you, and I’m scared that something’s going to happen to you if you stay as stressed as you have been.”

With a long, heavy sigh, she conceded. “I’ll think about it and talk to my parents. …You’re right that some stress management techniques couldn’t hurt.”

“Thank you,” he chuckled in relief, leaning in to place a grateful peck on her cheek. “I just want you to be okay, Marinette.”

“I know.” She blew out another sigh. “I’m sorry, Adrien. I know, and I’m sorry for dragging you through this. I’m sorry I scared you.”

“It’s okay,” he insisted, giving her a nuzzle and a light kiss on her forehead. “…So…what did we need to talk about next?”

She gave a start, pulling back slightly so that they were sitting a more standard distance apart. “I’d almost forgotten that we were arguing our issues out so we could kiss and make up.”

She picked the throw pillow up from where it had tumbled to the floor and hit him in the stomach with it.

“Geez. What was that for?” Adrien pouted.

“Kissing my boyfriend,” Marinette snorted.

Adrien winced, averting his eyes, instantly cowed.

If he were Chat, his ears and tail would have been curling up on themselves.

“I really wish he hadn’t said that to you,” he grumbled.

“Well, he did,” Marinette huffed, setting the pillow aside and crossing her arms, looking at Adrien expectantly. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

“‘Sorry’?” Adrien tried. “‘Your boyfriend is hot’?”

That got a laugh out of her.

She shook her head, expression softening and arms dropping to her sides as she hesitantly inquired, “…When did you first start thinking you might be bi?”

Adrien inhaled deeply. “…I started putting it together not quite a year ago, I guess? I don’t know. …Maybe you’ve noticed, but I have a hard time understanding my feelings. Like…when I first started going to school and interacting with people my own age, I was so excited to be making friends that I wasn’t really able to differentiate things like, ‘Marinette makes my heart flutter when she pays special attention to me because I’m not used to having such a good friend’ and ‘Marinette makes my heart flutter when she pays special attention to me because I have a ridiculously huge crush on her’.”

Marinette pulled a face, sympathizing with the confusion and embarrassment he must have felt when he discovered he’d been misidentifying and mislabeling his emotions. “Ouch. I’m sorry.”

Adrien nodded. “Yeah. Thanks. I’ve gotten better as I’ve learned more about friendship and how that feels, but…if I had grown up with more exposure to other kids, I think I would have been able to tell sooner that I’ve been interested in you romantically since day one…” He took a deep breath, looking away. “…and that I’ve had a massive crush on Luka since he helped me up when I face-planted into the deck of the Liberty the day we met.”

“Luka?” Marinette repeated incredulously (and a little louder than what was strictly warranted), eyes going wide.

Adrien shrugged, looking back at her with a sheepish smile. “Who else? Nino?” he laughed. “Yeah, okay. Sometimes Nino will do something really sweet that will make my heart flutter, but then, the next second, he’ll do something so…so Nino, and my heart will be like, ‘Oh, yeah. This loser is practically my brother. Never mind.’”

Marinette giggled at the repulsed way Adrien’s nose crinkled.

“My thoughts and feelings about Luka were more like how it was with you,” he confessed. “I thought that Luka was this really cool, older guy, and I was excited that he wanted to be friends with a socially awkward dork like me. We got closer, and I was happy because Luka was a really good friend, and he’d do things that made me feel valued and heard and validated…and I thought the warm feeling in my chest was friendship.”

“What eventually made you think that wasn’t it?” Marinette prompted gently.

Adrien’s face went pink at the recollection, and he averted his gaze once more. “I spent Christmas with the Couffaines this last year,” he murmured. “Father decided that a business trip to Milan was more important than spending time with me, and when Nathalie tried to get him to wait until after the holiday, he decided that he needed her to come with him, so…and my bodyguard Victor was taking time off to go back to Russia to visit relatives, so I was all alone with a substitute bodyguard, and…I snuck out. When I showed up at the Couffaines’, they took me in and made me feel included, no questions asked beyond whether I was okay.”

“They’re good people,” Marinette replied softly, nodding. “I’m really glad you had someone to spend Christmas with, Adrien.”

“Me too,” he whispered, a broad grin spreading across his lips. “I like spending time with Anarka, Juleka, Rose, and Luka. They’re very giving people.” He cleared his throat and shifted in embarrassment. “For example, Luka knows that I’m kind of affection-starved, so he makes a point of showing me affection in little ways like putting a hand on my arm, giving me a nudge with his shoulder, ruffling my hair…snuggling with me.”

“Oh,” Marinette remarked, not quite sure what to say to that. “Like…how Nino and Alya snuggle with you sometimes?”

“Something like that,” Adrien affirmed, face growing a darker and deeper red by the second. “Luka and I were snuggling on the couch Christmas night. We were wrapped up in just the one blanket, trying to get warm. It’s kind of cold on the Liberty in winter out on the water, so…but…I turned to look at him, and his face was a lot closer than I’d anticipated…and I really wanted to kiss him.”

“Then what happened?” Marinette demanded, hanging on his every word.

Adrien shrugged. “Akuma attack.”

Because that was just his luck.

“You’re not serious,” Marinette scoffed, sounding personally offended.

Adrien shrugged again.

They’d run up to the deck to get a handle on where the explosions were coming from. Once that was accomplished, Adrien transformed, Luka told him to be careful with an affectionate tussle of his hair, and Adrien hadn’t returned to the Liberty afterwards. He texted Luka that he was okay so that the Couffaines wouldn’t worry, but he couldn’t go back and face Luka that night.

“I went home after the attack and spent the whole night tossing and turning, thinking, ‘Did I just ruin my friendship with him?’, ‘Did he know I was about to kiss him?’, and ‘Oh, no. I think I like guys. What do I do?’” Adrien smiled helplessly. “That was the beginning of my sexuality crisis.”

“So…what did you do?” she urged him to continue, needing to know how it ended.

He shook his head. “Nothing. I don’t know. There wasn’t anything to do. I just tried to act normal the next time I saw him, and he never said anything, so… And it’s not like I could date him. I’m pretty sure my father would flip, and the press would have a field day, so…” He looked down at his hands, playing with his ring, twisting it round and round his finger. “And it’s more important to keep Luka as a friend anyway. I don’t have anyone to talk to about things at home, and I really miss—” His voice cracked.

He took a breath and peeked up at her, watching her expression as he continued. “I miss my brother.”

Marinette’s mouth fell open, and she blinked several times, leaning in closer as if she wasn’t sure she had heard right.

“If Félix were still here, he’d probably give me a bored look and tell me not to be so emotional and that I was overreacting…but he’d also pet my hair and not make a big deal out of it, so I’d know that it was okay and he still loved me,” he chuckled through another bout of tears, remembering how things were between them before Félix ran away at sixteen, cutting all ties with the Agreste family.

“I miss my brother,” Adrien repeated softly. “Luka is nothing like Félix, but he’s still someone I can go to for advice who knows more about life than I do…whom I can trust because I know he cares about me and wants me to be happy, so…I’m not going to do anything about my feelings for Luka.”

He turned to her and gave a forced smile. “I mean, one of the perks of being bi is that you can pass as straight, so no one has to know. I can still find a partner and be happy. It’s not like I’m doomed to be alone and unloved forever, so…”

“But that doesn’t mean you should suppress a part of yourself just because you can get by,” Marinette argued, a wave of indignation welling up within her, upsetting her on his behalf.

He looked away and shrugged. “I don’t need to date guys, Marinette. I already have you.”

She didn’t respond right away, not sure of the “right” way to answer.

He started to think that he’d jumped the gun, that Adrien didn’t actually have Marinette.

Finally, she reached out and placed a hand on top of his, stilling his fiddling with his ring.

He looked up interrogatively and saw her hesitant smile mixed with concern. “Yes, but I don’t want you feeling like you’ve missed out. I don’t want you wondering what if you’d given things with Luka a chance.”

Adrien’s brow furrowed as he tried to parse out her meaning. “Sorry. Are you trying to tell me to go kiss Luka? I’m kind of confused.”

Her face flushed as she pictured it.

She broke eye contact and withdrew her hand, muttering, “No, but…does he know you’re bi at least? Have you told anyone besides me and Chat Noir?”

“…Plagg,” Adrien admitted. “I think Nino knows or at least suspects. He teases me about my quote-unquote ‘crush’ on Luka, but…I haven’t talked to Nino about it, so it’s just kind of stayed a sort of joke.” Adrien sighed, carding a hand through his hair. “Luka probably suspects. I mean…I don’t think he’s missed the chemistry between us, but we’ve never talked about it, so he probably thinks that I may be bi but don’t know myself or something. He knows about you and me,” Adrien informed, “so he probably thinks there’s no point in bringing it up.”

“And you don’t think there’s any point in talking about it,” Marinette surmised.

Adrien gave his head a toss. “What point would there be? I’m happy being straight, being with you. Why complicate things?”

Marinette pressed her lips together and studied him intently.

Obviously, he was still in the thick of his sexuality crisis and deep in denial. She wanted to tell him that this wasn’t going to go away if he ignored it and that she worried about the long-term issues denying a part of himself might cause, that she worried about him having regrets.

She realized that Adrien probably wasn’t ready to hear what she had to say, though.

“Okay,” she exhaled. “If you’re happy, that’s fine, Adrien. It’s your life, and you get to decide how to live it, but I really do think you should talk about this with some trusted friends. You don’t have to act on your feelings, but maybe it would help if you talked about this with people who you know love you.”

He was quiet for a long minute before agreeing, “…I’ll think about it…. Maybe I’ll talk to Nino. It’s just… It’s a lot easier to pretend that it’s not happening.”

She nodded, leaning in to press a quick kiss to his cheek.

“I mean…it’s not really relevant unless things with you don’t work out and I end up falling for some guy, so…” He sighed, crossing his arms. “…it’s easier not to deal with it right now.”

“But…what about Chat Noir?” Marinette inquired, forehead scrunching up in confusion.

Adrien blinked. “What about Chat Noir?”

Marinette’s frown deepened. “You two are dating now, right? You said that he came and talked to you last night after he left my house?”

Adrien’s eyes widened, and his face went scarlet. “O-Oh. Yeah. Well…it’s… Yes. I mean, we’re technically dating, but it’s not…it’s not like the same way you and Chat Noir are dating. We’re just…”

Not for the first time, he mentally kicked himself for getting involved in a love triangle with himself and telling his girlfriend his selves were involved with one another.

Luka was right. Adrien should have just told her his identity. It would have saved a whole lot of time and energy.

“You know who he is, don’t you?” she whispered, smiling sadly.

Adrien froze, brain whirling for a minute before finally deciding, “Screw this.”

He nodded. “Yes. I do. It was an accident. Plagg’s fault.”

Adrien figured it was high time he threw someone else under the bus.

Plagg sank his claws into his chosen’s shoulder for the trouble.

Adrien decided that that was fair.

Meanwhile, Marinette, oblivious to the exchange, nodded. “I see. I thought so.”

“I’ve known for years,” he added, “and nothing bad has happened yet, so you don’t need to worry.”

She blew out a long sigh. “Luka knows too, doesn’t he?”

Adrien winced and answered defensively, “He figured it out on his own, like, two years ago. I didn’t tell him.”

“Take it easy,” she chuckled, bumping his shoulder with her own. “I know you would never tell someone else’s secret like that.”

He didn’t know whether to be relieved or not that she hadn’t caught his slip.

He bit his lip. “…So…now that you know that other people have known his identity and not caused the end of the world…how do you feel about learning his identity?”

Immediately, she shook her head. “I’m not ready. I still don’t think it’s safe, and I’m not going to take that chance.”

He exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair and stopping midway to grip at the roots. “…Okay. If you’re not ready…it’s okay. I don’t want to push you, but…I really want to push you because I think knowing will be a good thing. You need to know, and he needs you to know, but…”

He let go of his hair and let his hand slide down his face. “Sorry. No rush. I’m not pressuring you.”

“You’re such a good friend to him,” she murmured, reaching up to gingerly rub at his scalp.

“I’m really not,” he chuckled ironically.

“I’m kind of jealous of you,” she admitted.

Adrien gaped at her in wide-eyed surprise. “You’re jealous of me?” he laughed incredulously.

She nodded. “Last night, when Chat Noir told me that he’d been cheating on me with you too, he explained that he feels an emotional connection with you and feels like he can talk to you about anything.”

Her sad smile turned into a grimace. “I want that kind of closeness with him. I feel like there’s so much we can’t talk about, so much I don’t know about him, so much he can’t know about me…”

“Oh, Marinette,” Adrien sighed, leaning into her touch as he rested a hand on her knee, giving it a bolstering squeeze.

“I’m jealous that you two are so close,” she confided. “He was afraid to tell me he was bi, Adrien. He thought I was going to reject him. On the one hand, I understand him being scared what with the crappy family he’s grown up with, but…I bet he wasn’t afraid to tell you, so…I’m jealous that you two are closer.”

“Ohime-sama,” Adrien whispered as guilt flooded him.

He snaked an arm around her and pulled her into a loose side-hug, dropping his head to nuzzle her ear.

“Don’t be jealous. Yes, my bond with Chat Noir is…unique, but so is his bond with you. Please don’t stress yourself out about this. There’s nothing to be jealous of. No one could ever replace you in his heart. If he had to save just one of us, he’d pick you. You’re his number one, Marinette, so don’t doubt his feelings for you.”

She snuggled into his hold, chuckling, “So I don’t have to worry about you two getting sick of my crap and falling in love and leaving me?”

“No, My Love,” he stressed, striving to soothe her.

He could tell she was only half joking and that her words were an attempt to cover her very real insecurity.

“Marinette, things between Chat Noir and me aren’t like that. They’re never going to be like that,” he reassured.

“But…you two are dating. Obviously, there’s something between you,” she stressed.

She hadn’t felt threatened the night before by Adrien and Chat Noir’s relationship while Chat was snuggling with and kissing her, but after he’d left, the doubt started to creep in.

She knew that things between her and the boys weren’t perfect. Both relationships had problems, and she knew she wasn’t as good as she could be about meeting Chat and Adrien’s needs.

As she lay awake, she started to worry that Chat and Adrien were more compatible with each other than they were with her.

Adrien took a deep breath, once again internally cursing the idiocy of fake-dating himself.

“Do you know what a queerplatonic relationship is?” he asked, making a mental note to buy Luka a piano or something as a thank-you gift for teaching Adrien about concepts like polyamory and asexuality and queerplatonic relationships because he was getting a hell of a lot of mileage out of his enhanced vocabulary.

Marinette blinked at Adrien for a beat before taking a stab at it. “Is…that the one where you’re not…like…in love with someone, but you’re not just friends, but it’s not romantic either? Sorry,” she quickly apologized. “I did some research on asexuality after you told me about it, and I looked up polyamory this morning, but I feel like I didn’t study for a quiz in a class I didn’t know I was taking,” she laughed nervously.

“Don’t worry about it,” he assured, giving her shoulder a squeeze. “You’re doing pretty well for a straight, cis girl. I appreciate that you’re keeping an open mind. You get points just for trying.”

“Thank goodness,” she chuckled weakly. “So…what is a queerplatonic relationship really?”

“You weren’t wrong,” he replied. “It’s more than a quote-unquote ‘normal’ friendship, but it’s not romantic either. It’s not one-size-fits-all, so it’s different for everyone, but…it’s a really intense emotional connection with someone. There can be physical affection, but it’s not romantic or sexual. There’s no lust or falling in love. It’s just…being really close to someone, being in sync without it having to be…”

He shook his head, at a loss for words.

���It’s hard to explain,” he sighed. “There aren’t really words for it, no examples I could use.”

It was kind of how he felt about Ladybug now. He’d always love her, even if he wasn’t in love with her anymore. She would always be special to him. Their relationship would always be more than just friendship, but he wasn’t interested in her romantically anymore.

He’d been trying to process the intensity of his feelings for her, the specialness of their relationship in the absence of romantic feelings a year prior when Luka had suggested “queerplatonic”.

It kind of felt right.

“I think I get it. Sort of,” Marinette assured. “With Chat Noir, you’re really close, and you share secrets and kiss, but…it’s not because you want to get married and start a family or anything…right?”

“Right,” he affirmed. “So you have nothing to be jealous of, Ohime-sama. It’s a completely different kind of relationship. You don’t have to worry about us running off with one another because that’s not going to happen. You are the one that we love.”

Marinette took a slow breath and started to nod. “Okay. All right. I think I get it. Thanks. I think I feel better about this now.”

Adrien perked up. “So…you think maybe you’re not mad at me for telling Chat Noir about us and for kissing your boyfriend anymore?”

She gave his knee a pat. “Yeah. I’m kind of over it.”

“So, we’re okay now?” He held his breath.

With a frown, she pulled back, and the burgeoning grin at the corners of his mouth slipped off his face.

“Adrien,” she began hesitantly, nibbling at her bottom lip.

He tensed, preparing himself for yet another blow, some kind of chastisement or rejection.

Seeing his reaction, she quickly took his hand with one of her own while the other went up to stroke his hair. “No. It’s okay. It’s nothing you did. You’re wonderful, Beau Gosse. You’ve been nothing but wonderful this whole time. This is my fault. I’m the problem. I’m the reason we’re not okay, all right? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“You didn’t either,” he protested. “Marinette—”

“—Stop,” she interrupted, her hand dropping from his hair to his lips.

He arched an inquisitive eyebrow, and she gave him a sad but reassuring smile in response.

“Adrien, everything that has ever been wrong between us is my fault from assuming you put the gum on my chair to making you feel like I only wanted you for your body. All of it has been on me,” she insisted plaintively, beginning to feel a little better as she confessed to the ways she had wronged him.

Adrien frowned skeptically, gently removing her fingers from his lips. “Okay, that is a huge overstatement and a gross oversimplification. It’s not like I’ve never done anything wrong, Marinette.”

“No,” she conceded, “but—”

“—And I didn’t actually ever think you were just using me,” he cut in. “I thought about it when I was feeling down about how our friendship was deteriorating, but I didn’t ever actually think so little of you, Marinette. You’re not the bad guy here.”

“But I—”

“—No,” he shut down her. “We’re not playing the blame game. I’m at fault too. More than you know, so…thank you for feeling bad about your own shortcomings, but, instead of roasting you for not being perfect, I’d rather talk about what we can both do to be better going forward. Okay?”

She pursed her lips as she considered what he had said. Taking a deep breath, she nodded. “Considering that not listening to you when you tried to tell me what you wanted is probably one of my top five regrets about how things have been so far…maybe I should start things off by listening to you.”

“I mean, I do occasionally have good ideas,” he preened, trying to lighten the mood.

She rolled her eyes and poked the tip of his nose. “More than occasionally.”

“Flattery is much appreciated,” he chuckled. “So…without dragging yourself over the coals, what do you think we need to work on in order for us to be okay again?”

She blew out a breath. “Earlier, when I said that things were complicated and that I was conflicted and had a lot of things I needed to unpack, I was mostly talking about how I was mad at myself and ashamed of the way I’ve been treating you these past few months.”

“You weren’t horrible to me all of the time,” he comforted, resting a hand on her forearm and gently rubbing his thumb back and forth.

She shook her head. “I don’t know why you still like me, honestly.”

“You’re just focusing on the bad parts,” he countered. “There were times when you were still the amazing, wonderful, talented, thoughtful Marinette that I know and love.”

“When I felt guilty for the mess our relationship had become,” she muttered cynically.

He clicked his tongue. “Be fair. Things aren’t black and white like that.”

Marinette shrugged.

“Okay. Well, what do you think we need to do differently in the future?” Adrien prompted, trying to be proactive.

Marinette considered for a minute, getting her thoughts together. “I actually think we need to take it down a notch physically.”

Adrien’s eyebrow flew up past his hairline. “You what?”

“I think we need to slow down a bit,” she repeated, cheeks glowing rose. “We need to focus on our relationship more. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying no making out. I would literally die if I couldn’t kiss you.”

“‘Literally’?” he snickered.

“Yes, literally,” she snorted, giving his arm a playful thwack. “I’m just trying to say that we need more balance, more hanging out and snuggling and movie nights and…” She bit her lip, cheeks burning red as her blush spread like a lava flow down her neck. “…and I think I need to take you on a super cheesy romantic date…or, like, a hundred.”

His eyes lit up with joy, and she could practically see cliché date ideas from all of his favourite romcoms compiling into a master list.

She was kind of excited to see what he came up with.

“And I think we need to talk more,” she added, “about a lot of things but especially about relationship wants and needs. I know we haven’t been on the same page in the past, so… We don’t have to talk about everything now, but I think it’s important that we talk about things in the future. Like, what do you need me to do for you to be happier in this relationship?”

She looked at him expectantly, and he froze, unprepared.

There were a lot of things he wanted out of the Adrien side of his relationship with Marinette, but he was a little hesitant to dump the laundry list on her all at once.

He smiled softly and replied, “I think that if we work on our friendship and get to go on real dates, that’s a good start.”

“But you’ll let me know if anything comes up that makes you unhappy?” she pressed. “You’ll tell me if there’s a problem?”

He nodded, making a cross over his heart. “Promise.”

“Okay,” she exhaled in relief, feeling a bit of the stress start to come off. “Good. Because I want to make things better, Adrien. I’m sorry that they got so messed up.”

“The important thing is that we’re fixing them now,” he assured, gently caressing her cheek.

Tentatively, she leaned in, pressing a penitent kiss to his mouth.

“I’m going to make things better,” she promised against his lips.

“We are going to make things better together,” he corrected, lifting his head to give her hair a nuzzle. “Relationships are a team effort, Ohime-sama.”

“Right,” she breathed, nodding. “You’re right.”

“Sometimes I am,” he chuckled. “When it’s important.”

“You don’t give yourself enough credit,” she sighed, shaking her head and ruffling his hair.

He shrugged. “Self-esteem issues.”

Marinette clicked her tongue. “We’re going to have to do something about that.”

“Give me head pats and tell me I’m a good boy?” he suggested teasingly, trying to keep the atmosphere light.

Marinette readily complied, adding in a kiss on his cheek for good measure. “You’re a good boy, Adrien Agreste. Don’t let anyone ever make you feel otherwise.”

“Thanks,” he mumbled as all the blood rushed to his cheeks.

“Thank you,” she countered sincerely. “For talking with me…about everything,” she expressed awkwardly. “I mean everything. Your mom’s struggle with mental illness, your brother, figuring out you were bi… It means a lot to me that you’d talk to me about those kinds of things. I don’t feel like I’ve earned your confidence, but I’m really grateful.”

“Oh, Marinette,” he sighed, giving her another nuzzle. “You forget that we were friends for years before the last few months happened.”

She made a small, uncertain noise, as if she feared that the past few months had invalidated those years of friendship.

“Oh, Marinette,” he repeated with a little huff of exasperation and a kiss to her temple. “Listen. I want you to know that you can talk to me too. About anything…if you feel like sharing. Okay? No pressure, but if you ever feel like talking, I’m here for you.”

She wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. She didn’t think she’d be spilling her guts and revealing her identity anytime soon, but…

“Thank you,” she replied earnestly. “When I’m ready to talk, you and Chat Noir will be the first ones to know.”

“Okay.” He didn’t press, and she was thankful for that. “Whenever that is, I’ll be there.”

“Thanks, Adrien,” she breathed in relief, grateful that he was able to meet her where she was.

She gave him a tight hug for his trouble. “So…I’m making you apology hummingbird cake pops. I wasn’t sure how much groveling I was going to have to do to get you to forgive me, but I decided that bribing you with sweets is never a bad idea.”

He let out a snort of laughter at that. “She knows me so well. But seriously. We both haven’t been our best selves with each other lately, so there’s no groveling necessary. I propose mutual forgiveness and we share the cake pops.”

“All right,” she begrudgingly agreed, allowing a shadow of a smile to curl onto her lips. “But they’re still cooling. I had just taken them out of the oven right before you got here, so it will be just a bit longer before I can frost them.”

“I think I’m going to die of anticipation,” Adrien pouted.

With a roll of her eyes, Marinette got to her feet. “Such a drama queen. Come up to my room. I’ve got a surprise to tide you over while you wait.”

“Surprise?” he echoed as he followed her up the steps and through the trap door.

She went over to the trunk and carefully moved the gramophone sitting on top of it to the chaise longue so that she could get the lid of the trunk open.

With a wistful sigh, she turned back to him and motioned him over to look inside.

“Is that all stuff you’ve made?” he inquired, taking in the shirts, scarves, ties, hats, pants, pyjamas, and other items of apparel.

“Yep,” she chuckled, surveying the horde. “These are for you.”

He blinked at the stockpile and then turned to blink at her. “For me?”

She nodded. “Sorry they’re not wrapped anymore. Originally, I wrapped them all, but then when I decided I wasn’t going to give them to you, I unwrapped them, and they’ve kind of just been taking up space and reminding me that I get a little too carried away sometimes ever since.”

“Back up for a minute,” he entreated. “…What?”

Marinette smiled sheepishly. “I made all of this for you. For your birthdays for the next, like, fifty years.”

His mouth dropped open, and he turned back to gawk at the treasures in the trunk with new eyes.

“Remember the crazy, embarrassing crush I told you I’d had on you?” she sighed. “I got a little too enthusiastic about making you gifts. Once I came to my senses a bit, I decided that I was being a little obsessive, so…I never gave you your gifts. I figured it was a little much.”

Adrien shook his head as he mentally tried to calculate how much time and care had gone into everything he saw before him. “It’s not,” he assured, getting a little choked up all over again. “It would have meant a lot to have known someone was thinking about me that much. It does mean a lot.”

“Oh,” she chuckled. “Well…good. I’m glad you wouldn’t have thought I was a demented stalker or something.”

He shook his head again with more vehemence. “Not at all. I… What made you change your mind? What made you decide to give these to me after all?”

She swallowed hard and forced herself to meet his gaze. “Last night, I was thinking about how I could prove my feelings for you. I know things haven’t been great between us recently, so I was thinking about ways I could show you how much you meant to me. I thought finally giving you your presents might illustrate how I feel about you…or maybe make you think I was crazy, so…”

Adrien didn’t respond. He was too caught up in his emotions as he sifted through the Ladybug pyjamas she’d made him; the nerdy ties made of sleek material but featuring graphics including music notes, Shakespeare’s head, maths formulas, and adorable cartoon kittens; and the mittens she’d knitted that folded back to reveal fingertipless gloves under the finger box part.

“I’m sorry that this isn’t very romantic,” she prefaced, “but I need you to know that I love you, Adrien.”

He snapped to attention and stared at her, completely bowled over. “You…You do? You love…me?”

She nodded, giving him a nervous smile. “I have for a long time. Not always perfectly, but…I need you to know that you’re not just my second choice. I loved you before Chat Noir, and even though things are messy right now, I still love you. I’ve never stopped loving you.”

He pulled her into his arms, squeezing her tightly.

Gradually, they sank to the floor together, Adrien burying his face in the crook of Marinette’s neck.

She could feel his tears against her skin as she ran her hand up and down his back.

Marinette made a mental note to tell him that she loved him more often. She’d never felt able to say it back to him while she’d been cheating on Chat Noir, but now that they were all dating, she needed to be a better girlfriend to Adrien. It was obvious how much the words “I love you” meant to him.

Maybe Adrien, like Chat, didn’t hear those words enough at home either.

“Also,” she whispered gently when Adrien seemed to have regained a hold on his emotions, “just to make this official: Adrien, will you go out with me?”

He lifted his head from her shoulder and gazed at her in damp, starry-eyed amazement for a moment before surging forward to capture her lips in a show of his enthusiasm for the idea.

“Was that a yes?” she giggled when they pulled back.

“Absolutely,” he laughed breathlessly. “Being your boyfriend is all I’ve ever wanted.”

“You’re so easy to make happy.” She grinned teasingly as she shook her head.

“I’m not easy,” he pretended to sulk.

She laughed, stealing another quick kiss. “Want to help me frost hummingbird cake pops and then get your butt kicked at the new Mecha Strike?”

He instantly perked up. “Yes.”

“Easy,” she snickered smugly.

His eyes narrowed as his over-the-top pout returned. “Okay, maybe I was wrong and some groveling is in order after all. Be nice.”

She hummed in thought, as if considering it. “Maybe I’ll let you win a round or two of Mecha Strike and lick the frosting bowl.”

“Throw in a kiss, and you’ve got yourself a deal,” Adrien bargained.

With a laugh, Marinette leaned in, placing a sweet, airy kiss to his lips.

[marinette-buginette]

Tales of Miss Fortune

Welp, this was meant to be a Blancfortune oneshot. The me and @ladyofacat had some 3 AM talks and this turned into a villain!Ladybug au. Oops. Also, if you expect plot, leave the expectations at the door lmao. This story will mostly be sexual tension escalading and Miss Fortune/Marinette driving Chat/Adrien mad.

Next 

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Chat Noir moved stealthily through the dark corridors of the Louvre. It was fights like this when he was truly grateful for his night vision. Fights in the dark were an advantage for him and he knew he needed any asset he could get when it came to fighting her. Because honestly, there was only one thief in the whole of Paris (and possibly Europe) that would go on a stealing spree without any care for the security system.

Miss Fortune.

Chat’s grip on his staff tightened as he scanned the halls for his nemesis. She was the nightmare of Paris for almost six years now. And while she was not robbing simple people, there wasn’t any museum, gallery and private collection that had been spared. And more often than Chat would have liked to admit, she got away with it. He didn’t even want to think how many millions if not billions of euros had been lost because of her. Damn her.

Chat’s eyes scanned the hall he was in, feeling a little bit creeped out by the eyes in the portraits almost following him. He was never a fan of museums at night. Sometimes he wished he could just the exact place where Miss Fortune was. Not that he was worried she will escape. She never left without a fight. More often than not, Chat felt she was doing all these robberies with a clear purpose in mind: to drive him mad. Frankly, she was succeeding. With a sigh, he stopped in place focusing on the noise. His cat ears twitched as he heard a faint noise. from somewhere afar and a little to the west.

The storehouse.

He sprinted down the hall until he was close enough to hear better. He began moving with stealth again, his steps trailing the little noises he was hearing. His tail flicked anxiously as he stepped in one of the big rooms of the basement. Boxes of all sizes, sculptures wrapped in sheets covered in dust and even some paintings lying around. The sight almost made him sad, but he didn't have time to linger on that. He kept his guard up as he stepped further into the room, being prepared for any surprise attack. What he wasn't prepared for, however, was a fancy chair that probably belonged in the court of Louis de 14th. Put in the middle of an empty space and illuminated strangely by some candles in the back. He immediately spun around, throwing his baton at the target behind him that triggered a noise just one second before. Only to see that there was nothing before him.

"What the... " his curse had turned into a yowl as someone jumped into his back, managing to knock him off his feet.

A pair of soft lips brushed against his ear shell. "Hello, handsome."

Chat struggled as she sized his hands behind his back, making it impossible for him to use them. With a grunt of annoyance, he rolled on is back, trying to get rid of her, but it only aggravated the situation as she copied his move. It ended up with a tumble on the floor, until Miss Fortune managed to tie his hands with the string of her yoyo. Chat growled as she forced him to sit in the chair and wrapped the string around his body, managing to tie him to the chair.

"You, know, I'm almost disappointed for how easy you fell for that, kitten." she said with a pout while taking a bundle of rope off her belt. She took a few steps towards him, slow, almost teasingly. It wouldn't be the first time when Chat felt like he was the mouse and she was the cat. "But I could forgive you if you meow for me a little."

Adrien just glared at her, clenching his teeth. She always liked to play with him and he knew very well giving her a reaction would only make her satisfied with herself. And he was too stubborn for that. His lack of reaction seemed to only make her pout further.

"Well, then. If you aren't in the mood of talking I'll just get to action too. And when you think I even settled the romantic atmosphere with the candles." with a dramatic sigh, she got on her knees in front of him.

He did his best to ignore the heat rising in his cheeks as he tried to kick her away. Miss Fortune grabbed his leg and pinned it back down with ease. Glancing up at him with a scolding look, she chided him. "Bad chaton!"

He huffed annoyed, before redirecting his attention to her, keeping a close eye for any chance to free himself. She looked away from his face, her gaze sliding over his torso and then to his crotch. And by the way her lips curled into a predatory smirk, Chat was sure he was in trouble. Humming amusedly, she settled her hands on his thighs before spreading his legs wide open.

"What are you doing?" to his ultimate embarrassment, that was very much a squeak.

"Oh, but please, tell me, kitten. What happens usually when you have someone kneeling between your spread legs?"

Chat really wanted to give a witty reply, but frankly, he was pretty brain dead when she was staring at him with those bedroom eyes. Why was he cursed with a weakness for blue eyes?

And as if that wasn't enough, she began running her hands up and down his thighs, agonizingly slow. And the suit wasn't doing anything to decrease the feeling. It only stopped the pain from big hits, but gentle touches? They felt as if there was nothing between them besides a very thin sheet of silk. Chat beat his lips as she rested her head on his left thigh, her fingers trailing closer and closer to his crotch.  He closed his eyes, trying to think about the most unpleasant things in the world, just not to get a boner. He could never forgive himself if he got a boner from her teasing in front of her.

(He got boners because of her before and he wouldn't bother lying, but frankly, he was in private.)

She would never let him live it down. As if she didn't wound his pride enough these years. That would be the last drop. He felt Miss Fortune shift and then, something being wrapped around his ankles. He opened his eyes only to find his ankles tied and Miss Fortune smirking up at him, some rope still in her hands.

"I liked you tied up." he remarked casually before putting the rope over her shoulder and sitting in his lap.

Chat hissed. She was warm. And he had no doubt the way she was grinding on him, slowly was with a clear purpose in mind. Chat wanted to scream. Why couldn't he have a normal enemy? One that found pleasure in kicking his ass, not in sexually frustrating him? No, apparently that was too much to ask for. When he accepted being a superhero he certainly didn't expect almost six years of flirting, banter and sexual tension that just seemed to increase in the latest months.

Miss Fortune nuzzled his nose. That gesture was way too sweet for someone who looked like she was one step away from eating him alive while dry humping him. And there was so much he could do to stop his dick from going hard while someone was grinding on him and it felt very much like it was skin on skin. Miss Fortune seemed extremely happy with her results so far.

"Do you like this, kitten?" she whispered in his ear in a sultry voice as she increased her rhythm, her hot core moving faster against his boner.

Chat let out a moan, dropping his head against her shoulder. This was humiliating, but he couldn't bring himself to care too much when he felt so good. He will regret this later, he knew, but frankly, he had limits where he simply couldn't resist anymore. Miss Fortune was running her hands all over his body and Chat realized a few seconds too late she was tying him the rope and retrieving her yoyo.

"I fucking hate you." he growled through gritted teeth. For what, he wasn't sure. For being a nightmare to Paris? For humiliating him like that? For the fact that he was actually enjoying it? For outwitting him?

There was a slight gasp and soon all the warmth was gone. He looked up to see Miss Fortune glaring at him.

"That was the wrong thing to say." she hissed before getting something out of a box on the side. "Bad kitties get punished."

The next thing he knew was that Miss Fortune was leaning towards him with a piece of duct tape in her hands. She pressed it against his lips, before a smirk appeared on her face. She tilted her head, pressing her lips against his through the duct tape before gluing it to his face.

"That was for the language. You should learn how to dirty talk, kitten. " she straightened her back. "You were very rude, I liked you better when you were moaning. And because you said that, then I won't make you cum anymore."

Going to another box that was laying near, she picked two pieces of jewelry. The turned to him, raising them for him to see.

"They supposedly belonged to Madame de Pompadour. And given you are here, I want to ask you for an opinion. Which one do you think fits me better?"

She raised each pair to her ears. "The sapphire ones or the ruby ones?" Chat gave an annoyed growl making er giggle. "Oopsie, I forgot I duct taped you. Oh well, nod once for sapphire, nod twice for ruby."

She looked throughout amused as he didn't react anyhow. "Well, I guess you are right. I should take both."

Chat glared at her as she put the two pairs of earrings in one of her belt satchels.

"See you next time, beau gosse." she said with a smirk, blowing him a kiss.

And with that, she simply strutted out of the hall, leaving a very annoyed Chat Noir with an unsolved boner behind.